Nandu Guangji Bridge

Nandu Guangji Bridge

Nandu Guangji Bridge is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Guangji Bridge is located in Nandu Village, Fenghua City, spanning the lower reaches of the Fenghua County River. It is the only ancient post road route along the southeastern coast and was one of the three major waterway transportation arteries in old Fenghua. The bridge was first built during the Song Dynasty, rebuilt in the Yuan Dynasty, and underwent several renovations in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, though the bridge piers still date back to the Yuan Dynasty.

The current Guangji Bridge is a wooden and stone structure with a covered corridor-style design, measuring 51.68 meters in length and 6.6 meters in width. The piers are made of stone pillars, with five spans and four arches. Each span has six stone pillars, all slightly inclined outward, with mortise and tenon joints at the top and bottom. The foundation stones are fixed, and the heads are secured with locking stones, additionally supported by three large tensioning beams. Beams are laid atop the locking stones, on which the bridge planks are placed. The bridge deck features 21 covered corridor rooms, utilizing eight-span beams supported by six pillars. The beam framework combines both piercing-dovetail and raised-beam styles, topped with small blue tiles.

Among the Yuan Dynasty bridge piers, inscriptions such as “Rebuilt on the 29th day of the fourth month in the 23rd year of Zhiyuan (1286), at the hour of Yichou and Jia,” “Shen Sen from Chengju, born on the 22nd day of the third month in the year of Xinyou, donated funds along with family members... as well as Xu Cheng, stonemason from Xiaoxi, Yin County” and other carvings have been preserved, along with Yuan Dynasty capital stones and historical steles. These remain in excellent condition.

Located on the ancient post road of eastern Zhejiang, Guangji Bridge connected the “Maritime Silk Road” with overland routes, extending this vital corridor of East-West trade and cultural exchange deep into the inland regions of the continent. It is the only surviving Yuan Dynasty corridor-style bridge in Zhejiang Province and the only remaining ancient bridge along the north-south ancient post road transportation artery along the eastern Zhejiang coast.

On October 7, 2019, Nandu Guangji Bridge was included in the eighth batch of the National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units list.

Suggested Duration

2 hours

Location

Nandu, Fenghua City, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Eighth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units