Thursday, May 22, 2008

Gong Chen Bridge

Happy Thursday:) Take a look at this, I have to tell you this is indeed an amazing bridge.

Stretching across the Grand Canal, Gongchen Bridge has a history of 377 years, that is to say, it was first built during the reign of emperor Congzhen in the Ming Dynasty. It has gone through several wars and reconstruction, this photo was actually taken before the latest repair in August 2005, and I'll show you a photo of its current condition tomorrow or maybe next week .

As you can see, it has three bridge spans, the one in the middle is 15.8 meters in diameter while the adjacent two 11.9 meters.

1631 AC, no wonder they say that it can bring you to a period beyond living memory.

5 comments:

Maria Verivaki said...

bridges and railways never fail to arouse emotions - you've captured this one perfectly

Kim said...

Lovely bridge and reflection! Good to read that it is cared for regularly.
It's my first visit to HZDP and I wanted to say welcome to the CDPB community. I've looked through all your photos and what a treasure of sights you have to show us! I'll look forward to returning to see more.
-Kim
Seattle Daily Photo

PS-most of us have turned off the word verification as it makes commenting more difficult for some who visit many blogs each day. You might want to consider doing the same. . .little to no spam comes through comments when it is turned off. -K.

Unknown said...

wow! a ming dynasty bridge!

HZDP said...

Thx for visiting HZDP.

Hi Kim,
yes ..I've always want to skip that troublesome verification. It just didn't occur to me that I can remove it. now it's gone.^

Ming the Merciless said...

Amazing photo! Love the arches under the bridge.