Qiantan Bridge

Qiantan Bridge

Qiantan Bridge is a cultural relic protection unit of Lianyungang City.

Qiantan Bridge (1972)

Qiantan Bridge is located in Qiantan Village, Baitabu Town, Donghai County, Lianyungang City. The bridge was completed in October 1972, spans the Huaishu New River, and serves as an important link between Qiantan Village and Panwei Village, as well as Yanwei Village.

Qiantan Bridge has a total length of 54 meters, a clear width of 4 meters on the deck, and is a three-span open-spandrel stone arch bridge. The middle two piers each have seven small arches, while the sides each have four. The design is graceful and the craftsmanship exquisite. The railings are made of precast concrete, but some parts have been damaged due to aging. The bridge abutments are inscribed with “Qiantan Bridge” and “October 1972”. On the inner sides of the abutments are engraved lines from Chairman Mao’s poems: “Six hundred million people, all as sagely as Yao and Shun,” “Spring breeze on willow catkins, myriad strands,” “The world seethes with thunderous storm,” “The seas surge with rolling clouds and currents,” along with slogans such as “Grain as the key link, all-around development” and “Look to the world, keep the motherland in heart.” The inner sides of the bridge railings bear slogans like “The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains, Transform China,” “Self-reliance, hard struggle,” “Break superstition, liberate thought,” and “Struggle against heaven, endless joy,” surrounded by decorative sunflowers and five-pointed stars. Some characters use the now-abolished “Second-round Simplified Chinese Characters,” giving the bridge distinct characteristics of its era. Qiantan Bridge provides valuable physical material for the study of architectural styles from the 1960s and 1970s.

Baitabu Town: Baitabu Town in Donghai County is a key central town and comprehensive reform pilot town in Jiangsu Province, situated at the central junction between downtown Lianyungang and Donghai County seat. The town covers a total area of 124 square kilometers, governs 16 administrative villages, has a population of over 60,000, and includes more than 90,000 mu of arable land.

Unique locational advantages. The town enjoys convenient transportation with access by land, sea, and air. The Longhai Railway (East Section) runs through it, while the Lianyungang–Xuzhou Expressway and the Fengxian–Guannan Expressway traverse the area. Inland waterways connect directly to the Grand Canal and the Yangtze River. It is only 40 kilometers from Lianyungang Port, one of China’s eight major seaports. Lianyungang Civil Aviation Airport is located within the town and has already... More details about Baitabu Town++

Further reading:

· The Fifth Batch of Municipal-Level Cultural Relic Protection Units in Lianyungang City