Beijian Bridge

Beijian Bridge

Beijian Bridge is a cultural tourism attraction.

Beijian Bridge, located in Xiaqiao Village, Sixi Town, gets its name from spanning the Beixi (North Creek). Originally built in the 13th year of the Kangxi reign during the Qing Dynasty (1675), it has undergone six renovations but remains largely unchanged to this day.

Beijian Bridge features a palace-style double-eave structure, with an exquisitely crafted and classically simple design. However, the beauty of Beijian Bridge lies not only in its graceful and airy form or its unique rainbow bridge structure, but also in the surroundings. Two streams converge by the bridge, their waters crystal clear. A small stone bridge made of stone beams spans the water, connected by stepping stones. Along the creek bank, a path leads to the bridgehead and the village. Two ancient camphor trees stand at the bridgehead, both over a thousand years old. Their gnarled roots firmly grip the soil and rocks around the bridge foundation, helping Beijian Bridge withstand centuries of weathering without major damage.

The original Beijian Bridge was built 30 meters upstream from its current location, where the ruins of the old bridge can still be found. There is an interesting legend about why the original bridge was destroyed. One day 400 years ago, an elderly woman was leading her grandson Zhizhou across Beijian Bridge when two immortals were playing chess on the bridge. The woman said, “Please let my grandson Zhizhou cross the bridge.” The immortals mistook “Zhizhou” for “zhizhou” (a provincial governor) and casually recited: “An eighty-year-old granny comes here to roam, / Holding her grandson’s hand, she calls him ‘governor’ at home. / Should this child ever become a governor true, / The waters will flood the bridge of Beijian anew.” Unexpectedly, more than ten years later, the boy named Zhizhou actually became a governor. In the winter of his inaugural year, a massive flood on the Sixi River washed away Beijian Bridge. So, in the 13th year of the Kangxi reign, the villagers of Xiaqiao Village rebuilt a wooden arch bridge near the original site — the very Beijian Bridge we see today. Though the story may be fictional, the family genealogy of the local Lin clan actually records a person named Zhizhou. This blend of fact and fiction adds an air of mystery to the beautiful Beijian Bridge.

Xiaqiao Village: Known as “the Whirlpool of Sixi Waters,” Xiaqiao Village in Sixi Town is a mountain valley basin formed by the convergence of four creeks: Nanxi (South Creek), Dongxi (East Creek), Beixi (North Creek), and Xixi (West Creek). Lush paddy fields line the creeks, extending up the hillsides in terraced steps. Settlements in Xiaqiao Village date back to the Tang Dynasty, with major surnames including Lin, Tang, and Chen. The founding ancestor of the Lin family, Lin Jian, was originally from Jianyang, Fujian, serving as a long-term historian in the Tang imperial cabinet. After the fall of the Tang, he refused to serve the Liang Dynasty and relocated in the third year of the Tongguang reign of the Later Tang (925) from Beiluo Village, Putian, Fujian, to Longxuyan, Xiaocun. He chose Xiaqiao for its “prosperity even in famine, peace even in war; forests for firewood, waters for fishing.” … More details about Xiaqiao Village ++