Trial Heart Bridge (Ferry Immortal Bridge)

Trial Heart Bridge (Ferry Immortal Bridge)

The “Ferry Immortal Bridge,” also known as the “Trial Heart Bridge,” is a stone bridge over five feet long suspended high in the sky. Below it lies a bottomless abyss, which looks extremely daunting from afar. The timid often stop in their tracks.

Commonly called the “Three Steps, Two Bridges,” it is located in the main peak area of Tianzhu Mountain. Spanning the summit of Tianchi Peak, the stone bridge is over five feet long, with steep rabbit-like cliffs on both sides, split down the middle to form two separate banks. Two stones are bridged across, each about 1 meter wide, suspended high above the clouds, with a sheer cliff thousands of feet below and an unfathomable abyss. On the northern side of the bridge, the flat rock surface is smooth as a palm, with two small pools—one square and one round—known as the Tianchi (Heavenly Pools). Neither pool is more than a foot wide, the water is clear and cool, and it never dries up even in prolonged drought. Beside the bridge, old vines hang with blossoms, and tall branches shade the valley. This spot offers the best views of sunrise, sunset glow, sea of mist, and sea of clouds. Legend has it that Liu Ruozai, a literary scholar and top imperial examination candidate of the Ming Dynasty, often played the zither on the bridge, which was thus named the Heavenly Music Platform. Nearby are two peaks: Heavenly Lion and Young Lion, both of which are extremely precipitous.