sPictures of pagodas in China I previously visited, which are arranged chronologically from Northen Wei Dynasty (386 AD—534 AD) to Qing Dynasty (1636 AD - 1912 AD) to manifest the changes in the style. However, many are rebuilt multiple times over dynasties, which makes it hard and ambiguous to detemine which dynasty it belongs to. Pagoda is a special type of architecture, which comes from the tradition of building stupa in India. However, the style and function of pagoda changed a lot as it developed in China. One major characteristic is that Chinese decorated the pagodas with eaves, a characteristic element in traditional architecture. Pagodas were historically made of bricks, stones, and wood. Most pagodas preserved today are made by stone or bricks, since most timber pagadas were destroyed, and there are only one that persists today (see row 3, column 3, Japan has more timber pagodas preserved and they belong to a more primitive style of timber pagoda in China)