Yushi Lane Wanli Bridge

Yushi Lane Wanli Bridge

Yushi Lane Wanli Bridge is a cultural relic protection unit of Wenzhou City.

Yushi Lane Wanli Bridge is located at the northern end of Wanli Alley in Lucheng District, spanning the Chan River from north to south. The bridge was originally built in the mid-Qing Dynasty and rebuilt in 1922. It is a three-arch stone beam bridge, approximately 15 meters long and 2.4 meters wide, with the central arch slightly longer. Two sets of piers stand in the middle of the river, while abutments are built along the banks. Each pier set consists of four square stone columns, with the pier columns having slight inward inclines. The pier columns are topped with cap beams (fixed with mortise-and-tenon joints) that support the bridge deck. Each arch is paved with neatly arranged flat granite slabs, with edge slabs also serving as stringers, topped with bluestone railings and lotus-shaped balusters. The bridge abutments are constructed by layering regularly cut coarse granite slabs in a one-stretcher-one-header pattern. The central west side of the middle arch bears the three characters “Wan Li Qiao” (Wanli Bridge) in relief intaglio regular script, flanked by intaglio regular-script inscriptions. The central west side of the middle arch also features a recessed relief clerical-script inscription, while the west side of the southern arch slab has a vertical intaglio regular-script inscription in the middle.

In April 2000, Yushi Lane Wanli Bridge and others were designated as part of the fourth batch of cultural relic protection units by the Wenzhou Municipal People’s Government.

Protection Level: County (city, district)-level cultural relic protection unit

Era: 1922

Announcement Date: April 2, 2000

Category: Ancient architecture

Protected Area: The entire bridge structure.

Building Control Zone: Eastward extension from the eastern bridge slab to Jiefang South Road; westward extension from the western bridge slab to Shuanglian Bridge; northward extension to the Chan River (road); southward extension 20 meters from the bridgehead.