The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing has a “twin brother” in London, which is the Kew Tower in the British royal garden.
It is a perfect replica of the Porcelain Tower by the British royal family in the mid-18th century, which reflected how the “Chinese style” swept over Europe more than 200 years ago. Thanks to the help of a Nanjing company, this Chinese-style tower is under repair and renovation and will be open to the public next summer.
Known as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew was listed as a World Cultural Heritage by the UN in 2003. The Kew Tower was first designed by William Chambers, the royal architect of the King of England George III who visited China more than twice and was completed in 1762. The octagonal brick tower consists of 10 floors and stands 163 feet (about 50 meters) tall. The Kew Tower and Porcelain Tower were both the tallest buildings in the two countries at that time and were both royal towers.
At first the Kew Tower had gray walls and red pavilions, with 80 colored wooden dragons crouching on the edge of the top, which, unfortunately, were removed during the repair in 1784. Britain has been trying to find new dragon columns or substitutes in the 200 years since then but has never succeeded.
Luckily the Nanjing-based SanPower Group initiated the repair and restoration of the Kew Tower. The most important part is the restoration of the 80 wooden dragons. When the project is completed, the Kew Tower will resume its original look .
