The Xiudingsi Pagoda is located in the south foot of Qingliang Mountain in the Taihang Mountain Range 35 kilometers to the northwest of Anyang County, Henan Province.

The Xiudingsi Pagoda lies inside the original Xiuding Temple. There are chains of mountains around the temple. The mountains are lofty, with springs here and there, forming a beautiful landscape. It is said that the Xiuding Temple was built in the eighteenth year (494) of the Taihe reign of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534) and originally named Tiancheng Temple. The temple was expanded in the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577) and renamed as Heshui Temple. The temple has a large scale. Emperor Wenxuan of the Northern Qi Dynasty came here three times. The temple became more imposing after reconstructions during the Sui (581-618)) and Tang (618-907) Dynasties, and got the new name Xiuding Temple. The temple was destroyed at the end of the Qing Dynasty except the Xiudingsi Pagoda. The pagoda was built in the Zhenguan reign (627-649) of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). It is a single-layer dagoba of brick carving. For the red body, it is commonly known as Red Pagoda.

The original pagoda is 20 meters in height, composed of the base, body and peak. The pagoda base is a pedestal with an octagonal plane. The body is a square, with an arch in the south wall. Many Buddha niches and inscriptions of the Tang and Song Dynasties can be found on the forehead of the door. The peak resembles an overturn pot, and is in a luxury and splendid style, rarely seen among pagodas of the Tang Dynasty. Now the peak is damaged.

The body is built of over 5,000 carved bricks that were molded with patterns of diamond, triangle, rectangle and parallelogram. The contents of carvings are rich and colorful. The patterns include black dragon, white tiger, Taoist master, knight, Buddha's warrior attendants, Hercules, Handmaiden, Flying Apsaras, treasured elephant, strong lion, heavenly horse, boa, flower, colorful ribbon and so on, totaling 72 types of patterns. The carving techniques are superb, and the figures are so vivid that it seems to be coming out of the wall. The sculpture is a treasure among the artworks of the Tang Dynasty. There are arch doors in the south wall of the pagoda. These doors were built by laying carved bricks too. Hemicycle stony foreheads of the doors are located niches for Amida Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha, Bhaisajyaguru Buddha. There are josses, disciples, Bodhisattvas and heavenly kings, altogether 9 figures. The flamboyant back light behind the josses reflects an artistic style of the prosperous period of the Tang Dynasty.