Why These Four Towers Fit on One Page
China has many famous towers, but the Yellow Crane Tower, Yueyang Tower, Tengwang Pavilion and Penglai Pavilion are usually introduced together. Each one stands near a river or the sea, and each is tied to a well-known poem, essay or legend, so a poster about them offers both scenery to draw and lines to write.
A Job for Every Tower
Yellow Crane Tower: farewell beside the Yangtze
Place it in Wuhan on the Yangtze River. Write about the legend of the immortal riding a crane and about Li Bai's poem of parting. Draw the tower, a small boat and long ripples of water.
Yueyang Tower: the lake and one famous line
Yueyang Tower stands by Dongting Lake. Its most quoted line comes from Fan Zhongyan: be first to worry and last to rejoice. Pair the line with wavy water and distant hills.
Tengwang Pavilion: autumn sky and a young writer
By the Gan River, Tengwang Pavilion is remembered for Wang Bo's preface, where sunset clouds fly with a lone duck and autumn water meets the vast sky. Orange and red suit this panel.
Penglai Pavilion: a legend by the sea
Penglai Pavilion sits on the Shandong coast and is linked to the Eight Immortals and the mirage story. Retell a short tale here and use blue and purple with clouds and waves.
Lines You Can Copy Onto the Page
- My old friend leaves the Yellow Crane Tower in the misty blossoms of March.
- A lone sail fades into the blue sky; only the Yangtze flows to the horizon.
- Be first to worry, last to rejoice.
- Sunset clouds fly with a lone duck; autumn water meets the vast sky.
Choose only one or two lines for each tower and save room for your own sentence, such as "the tower I want to visit most is ... because ...".
Three Layouts That Stay Tidy
- Four squares: divide the page into four equal blocks, one tower each, and leave a narrow cross-shaped gap in the middle for the main title.
- River route: draw one long curve like a river and place the four towers along it, as if you were travelling downstream.
- Big and small: draw your favourite tower large across half the page and put the other three on small cards around it.
Whichever you pick, a title, four content blocks, one famous line and one small illustration will fill the page without clutter.
Before You Start Drawing
Sketch light pencil guides first so your handwriting sits straight. Keep to three main colours, one for each tower, so the page still looks unified. Curved, upturned rooflines are the easiest way to make the buildings look Chinese.
If you would like ready-made frames, open the Smart Handwritten Newspaper mini program in WeChat, choose a Chinese architecture and landmarks theme, drop these notes into a four-panel template, then print it or copy it by hand.
