Gaoyang Bridge

Gaoyang Bridge

Located on Shui Street in Tangmo Village, it is one of the structures within the provincial-level protected site "Tangan Garden." Built during the Yongzheng era, in the Guiyue year (1733) of Yongzheng, the local resident Xu Xiling inscribed the two characters “Feihong” (Flying Rainbow). The *Shexian County Annals* record: “Gaoyang Bridge spans the Tanlan Stream in Tangmo, Twenty-first District, and was built by Xu Keyun.” It is a double-arched red stone corridor bridge, oriented from north to south and standing across the Tanlan Stream. It is 12.6 meters long, 7.4 meters wide, and about 3 meters high. The bridge deck features a small five-bay hall. On the downstream side of the corridor, a 1-meter-wide walkway is reserved on the bridge deck, equipped with stone railings. The central pier between the two arches is inlaid with a plaque bearing the three characters “Gaoyang Bridge.” The name “Gaoyang” signifies the ancestral origin of the Xu family of Tangmo from Gaoyang Commandery. The bridge hall is constructed with Ming-style wooden framework and once enshrined the Goddess of Mercy (Guanyin), hence it is also commonly called “Guanyin Bridge” by locals. The upstream side of the small hall is decorated with railing panels and partition windows, allowing visitors to overlook the scenery of the water street. The window lintels are painted with colorful designs of flowers and birds, inscribed with the signature “By Tan Bo.” The roof is adorned with decorative brick ridges in the shape of swastikas, while the lower row features brick patterns symbolizing good fortune. At the center of the main ridge sits a conical tin ornament, with upturned ridge ends each decorated with ceramic beasts. Inside the hall, a stone stele embedded in the southern wall documents the fundraising details for the bridge’s renovation in the 17th year of the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty (1812).