A 1,200-year-old pagoda on Mount Lushan, a renowned tourist attraction in Jiangxi Province, east China, has been tilting recently, and is now in urgent need of repair.

Located in the Xilin Temple, the Qianfo (thousand Buddhas) pagoda was first built up in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and was then renovated during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127).

Within the seven-storey, six-sided pagoda are adobe Buddhas, painted pottery and porcelain, and 1,800 jade figures of Buddha. The pagoda is of great importance for knowledge of sculpture art and religion in past ages.

A local cultural relics manager said that the increased lean of the tower is due to the use of concrete and other building materials in recent facelifts.

The roaring traffic outside the temple, which is causing the surrounding ground to sink, also explains the incline of the pagoda.