Qingyuan County Gallery Bridge Museum

Qingyuan County Gallery Bridge Museum

The Qingyuan County Gallery Bridge Museum serves as a patriotic education base.

Qingyuan County has long been known as the "Natural Museum of Ancient Gallery Bridges" and the "Hometown of Gallery Bridges." It is home to the country’s oldest surviving gallery bridge, the Rulong Bridge; the longest single-arch corridor bridge, the Huangshui Long Bridge; the bridge with the largest single-span arch, the Lanxi Bridge; the earliest historically recorded twin-gate bridges, the Shuangmen Bridge and Futian Bridge; and the country’s longest wooden arched gallery bridge, the Maxi Arch Bridge, all located in Qingyuan. The museum showcases the rich cultural heritage of gallery bridges. The Qingyuan Gallery Bridge Museum officially opened on December 2, 2011. Themed around gallery bridges, the museum interprets gallery bridge culture from the perspectives of history, craftsmanship, nature, humanity, and preservation. It adopts an architectural concept of "bridge and museum in one," featuring an elegant and classic design with a total area of 3,300 square meters. The museum is divided into seven sections: the Introductory Hall, History Chapter – Dreaming Back to Gallery Bridges, Craftsmanship Chapter – Marvels of Human Ingenuity, Nature Chapter – Rainbows on Earth, Humanity Chapter – A Special Affection, Preservation Chapter – Joining Hands with Gallery Bridges, and Conclusion. The exhibition area spans 2,250 square meters. The main exhibition, themed "Rainbows on Earth, Dreamlike Gallery Bridges," uses the surviving gallery bridges and their cultural legacy in Qingyuan and surrounding areas as a starting point to systematically showcase the technical features and cultural charm of China’s gallery bridges. In recent years, the museum has actively organized a series of colorful patriotic education activities. These include “On-site Explanation by Non-Heritage Inheritor Wu Fuyong on the Interior Structure and Wooden Arch Framework of the Shuangmen Bridge,” “Creative Sketching Activities Centered on Gallery Bridges,” “Gallery Bridge Puzzle Competitions,” “Kids Drawing Gallery Bridges,” “Ideas for Gallery Bridge Preservation,” and “Hand-Painted Gallery Bridge T-Shirts.” These activities, all leveraging the resources of the museum, have broadened the reach of patriotic education. Since its opening in 2011 and free admission policy, the museum has welcomed over 190,000 domestic and international visitors.