Zhou An Yongji Bridge

Zhou Anyongji Bridge

Yongji Bridge is located on the Pangjiang River to the southwest of Jiuzhen Tun in Gupeng Town. Built in the 19th year of the Guangxu reign during the Qing Dynasty (1893), it was originally one of the key bridges on the ancient road from Qingyuan Prefecture to Binzhou. The bridge is 72.6 meters long and 6.8 meters high, with a total of six piers and seven spans, each spanning 6 meters. The bridge deck is 3.6 meters wide, flanked by rectangular stone slabs secured by stone pillars serving as railings, which are 0.6 meters high. Above the 2nd–3rd and 5th–6th spans, each is adorned with a carved stone lobster fish, facing upstream to the east and downstream to the west, featuring an elegant design and lifelike appearance. Both the bridge piers and arches are constructed from meticulously processed square stone blocks using a dry-laid technique, resulting in a smooth surface with tightly fitted joints—no mortar was used, making it nearly impossible to insert even a nail. The pier bases are wider at the bottom and narrower at the top, with the narrowest part being only 0.4 meters wide. The craftsmanship is exquisite and extremely rare among ancient stone arch bridges. In 1984, the bridge was listed as a county-level key cultural relic protection unit.