Yuqing Bridge

Yuqing Bridge

Yuqing Bridge is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Yuqing Bridge is located at the South Gate of downtown Wuyishan City and dates back to the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty.

In the southern suburbs of downtown Wuyishan, there lies a grand ancient covered bridge with elegant design and exquisite structure — Yuqing Bridge. It is one of the World Cultural Heritage sites and national cultural relics of Wuyishan, as well as a key hub along the ancient Fujian–Jiangxi trade route. It was the essential route for merchants and travelers from Wufu and Xiamei — the starting point of the Ten-Thousand-Li Tea Road — to commute between the county town and Jiangxi.

Built in the 15th year of the Guangxu reign during the Qing Dynasty (1889), Yuqing Bridge in Wuyishan was funded with 30,000 silver dollars donated by Zhu Jingxi, a local gentry from Chong’an County (now Wuyishan), in honor of his mother’s birthday. The donation was used to construct both Yuqing and Chuiyu bridges. Located at the southern end of Nanmen Street in downtown Wuyishan, Chuiyu Bridge was destroyed by fire during the Republican era. Yuqing Bridge spans the Chongyang Stream, running from northwest to southeast. It is a covered wooden and stone bridge featuring a through arch with cantilevered braces, consisting of two abutments, two piers, and three spans. The entire bridge is constructed without using a single nail or rivet. Experts note that Yuqing Bridge bears similarities to the rainbow bridges depicted in the Song Dynasty painting “Along the River During the Qingming Festival.” Its value lies in being a unique example of a wooden and stone cantilevered-braced rainbow arch bridge, often regarded as a “living fossil” in the history of world bridge architecture.

Yuqing Bridge has been designated as a National Cultural Relics Protection Unit.