Most of the Qiang ancient blockhouses are made of mud and stone. The raw material is stone, which is bonded with mud. They are built by experience, with beautiful appearance and strong walls. Most ancient pagodas are connected with residential buildings, and some stand alone in the plains and valleys. The shape of ancient bunkers is generally tall square columns, with four corners, five corners to eight corners, and a few of them reach 13 triangles. The height is generally not less than 10 meter, mostly around 30 meters, and the height can reach 50-60 meters. Its watchtowers have different shapes, and the height is 6- 10. The watchtower has a solid foundation, and the wider the foundation, the narrower it becomes. The watchtower is made of flaky stone, with exquisite masonry technology, and its walls can be smooth and flat without leaving gaps. Their determination can stand for decades or even hundreds of years in this earthquake-prone area of western Sichuan. After several earthquakes, they still stand tall, some of them are lopsided, and some are bent into bows, forming their own scenery. This watchtower is a unique building in Danba, which is distributed in all parts of the county, mainly on both sides of the valley. Or in groups of three or five, or independent of mountains and rivers, the towers echo each other and are formed by mountains, which is magnificent. In concentrated places, dozens of watchtowers rise and fall continuously, forming a spectacular group of watchtowers as far as the eye can see.
There are probably four kinds of towers in Danba: Key Tower, Beacon Tower, Zhaizi Tower, Home Tower, especially Home Tower and Zhaizi Tower, as well as Feng Shui Tower for blessing and security, and God Tower for avoiding evil spirits. The tower built behind the house is closely connected with the residential building and belongs to the domestic tower. Home bunkers are relatively short, generally used as storage rooms to defend against bandits, and in case of war, they can also defend themselves; Fortress is a war tool to protect villages, tribes and regions, which is similar to the function of the city gate, but more flexible than the city gate: the fortress is built on dangerous roads and stands on cliffs to defend against enemy attacks, and it is a solid fortification that "one person guards it and ten thousand people can't force it"; Beacon is used to transmit war information and has the operational function of other towers. The tall tower overlooks the enemy. From a distance, you can shoot with an arrow, and from a close distance, you can roll a stone. Advance can attack, retreat can defend. The enemy was exposed on the land of vilen. He hid in a strong tower, waiting for the attack and the opportunity to act.