Baojie Bridge

Baojie Bridge 宝界桥
Coordinates	31°31′02″N 120°14′25″E
Carries	Pedestrians and bicycles
Crosses	Li Lake
Locale	Binhu District, Wuxi, Jiangsu, China
Characteristics
Design	Arch bridge
Material	Stone
Total length	390.74 metres (1,282.0 ft)
Width	18.5 metres (61 ft)
History
Construction end	1934
Construction cost	30 million yuan
Opened	16 October 1994
Rebuilt	1994
Location

The Baojie Bridge (simplified Chinese: 宝界桥; traditional Chinese: 寶界橋; pinyin: Bǎojiè Qiáo) is a historic stone arch bridge over the Li Lake in Binhu District of Wuxi, Jiangsu, China.

History

The originally bridge was built by Rong Desheng, a prominent industrialist from Wuxi, in 1934, during his 60th birthday. The bridge is 375 metres (1,230 ft) long and 5.6 metres (18 ft) wide, with 60 bridge openings.

In the 1990s, due to the development of Yuantouzhu Scenic Area (鼋头渚风景区), the China Central Television (CCTV) continued to build Tang Dynasty City (唐城), the Three Kingdoms City (三国城) and Water Margin City (水浒城) as film and television bases in the south of Baojie Mountain (宝界山), which attracted a large number of tourists and caused serious traffic congestion in Baojie Bridge. Larry Yung, grandson of Rong Desheng, donated 30 million yuan to build a new bridge, 390.74 metres (1,282.0 ft) long and 18.5 metres (61 ft) wide, 10 metres (33 ft) east of the old bridge. The opening ceremony was held on 16 October 1994. In December 2011, it was inscribed as a provincial key cultural unit by the Government of Jiangsu.

Gallery

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  Old Baojie Bridge in the 1930s
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  Old Baojie Bridge in 1934
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  Old Baojie Bridge in 1934