Fuzhou Yanqiao Bridge

Fuzhou Yanqiao Bridge

Yanqiao Bridge is a cultural relic protected at the district level in Gulou District, Fuzhou.

Yanqiao Bridge is situated at Tushan in Shuibu, Fuzhou, to the north of Longhua Bridge. It was first constructed in the ninth year of the Xianfeng reign during the Qing Dynasty (1859), and is a single-arch stone structure with a covered flat-beam bridge. The bridge is 3 meters high, 5.5 meters long, and 2.6 meters wide, and runs in a north–south direction. The covered walkway features a single-eave suspended gable roof, with bluestone plaques on the eaves on both the northern and southern sides, engraved with the four characters “Ancient Yanqiao Bridge,” and below them: “Constructed in the ninth month of the jiwei year of the Xianfeng reign, Qing Dynasty.”

This is a typical Fuzhou-style pavilion bridge, situated at the intersection of a tributary of the Qiongdong River and the Qiongdong River in Shuibu. The bridge deck is a small stone beam bridge, but the highlight is the covered roadway pavilion on the bridge — a petite red-brick firewall with arched entrances, corbelled parapets, wooden railings facing the Qiongdong River, paired with flagstone paving. Nearby, an old tree completes a classic scene of Fuzhou’s distinctive waterside scenery. Unfortunately, it was demolished around the year 2000 during redevelopment to make way for the Yanqiao Hot Spring Garden. The silent destruction of Yanqiao Bridge — a cultural heritage site in Gulou District — by developers is a microcosm of the fate of cultural relics in Fuzhou.