[1][2] Located in the juncture of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Henan, it has been an important traffic fort since ancient times.

Yongji City, backing to the Zhongtiao Mountains and facing the Yellow River, is called Puzhou (蒲州) historically.

Arrogating all powers to himself, Yuwen Hu presided over state affairs of the Northern Zhou dynasty for over ten years.

Some people say that Yuwen Hu had the Stork Tower built for not only military purposes, but also watching his mother by looking into the distance.

It's said that Yuwen Hu often ascended the Stork Tower and overlooked the direction to Jinyang to ease his longing for his mother.

[2] In the Zhenyou period of Jin dynasty (1115-1234), Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, Wanyan Xun (1163-1224), deeply felt the great threat from the Mongolian army and decided to move the capital to Hezhong Prefecture, also Puzhou, which was easy to guard but hard to attack.

However, due to slow action, shortly after he decided to move the capital, the Mongolian army had occupied Pingyang, today's Linfen in Shanxi province.

[2] Early in the 13th century, Mongolian tribes led by Genghis Khan (1162-1227) developed rapidly, extremely threatening the Jin dynasty (1115-1234).

The river water flowed backward into Puzhou city and the site of Stork Tower was deeply buried in the sediment from then on.

[2] In March 1992, the relevant departments investigated the three towers south of the Yangtze River, back then, they spent ten days visiting five provinces and four cities with a distance of 8,000-kilometre (5,000 mi).

With joint efforts of many ancient architectural experts and constructors, the reconstructed Stork Tower finally showed up in front of people.

The tower is rebuilt, majestic and splendid, it sets off green trees and facing the rising sun, looking loftier.

[2] Over 1000 years ago, Wang Zhihuan (688-742), a poet of the Tang dynasty (618-907), wrote a famous poem "On the Stork Tower" (《登鹳雀楼》) spreading through the ages on it.

[3] Shen Kuo (1031-1095), an eminent scientist of Northern Song dynasty (960-1127), described the prosperity of the Stork Tower back then in his book "Dream Pool Essays" (夢溪筆談): The three-story Stork Tower in Hezhong Prefecture, faces the Zhongtiao Mountains and overlooks the Yellow River.

However, only the poems of Li Yi (746/748–827/829), Wang Zhihuan (688-742) and Chang Zhu (暢諸) can vividly describe the scenery of it.