Famous Personages, Famous Bridges

MARCO Polo (1254-1324) has been a household name in China for more than 700 years. This is mainly due to his fascinating book, The Travels of Marco Polo (originally entitled A Description of the World), but an ancient bridge also figures largely in his Chinese fame.

The 800-year-old bridge in question still stands where the Yongding River once flowed in southwestern Beijing. Originally named Guangli, its name changed to Lugou shortly after construction. It was in the 13th century when he traveled to then capital Dadu (now part of Beijing) during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) that Marco Polo first set foot on the bridge that he made famous. 

News of Marco Polo's legendary travelogue quickly spread across Europe, whose people were intrigued with his experience in the Far East and China. The beautiful stone bridge he described soon became referred to by the great traveler's name. Today Westerners travel to Beijing to see for themselves Marco Polo Bridge and its stone balustrades and lions as described by this medieval Venetian adventurer.

The Moon at Dawn over Lugou Bridge

Lugou Bridge indeed merits Marco Polo's rhapsodic description. During the 800 years since it was built it has been one of Beijing's eight famous scenic sites. It bears the poetic name The Moon at Dawn over Lugou Bridge personally inscribed by Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799) of the Qing Dynasty who was moved by its beauty under the fading moon at dawn. However, the bridge does not evoke entirely positive connotations. During Beijing's semi-monsoon late summer months the Yongding River regularly flooded, devastating the surrounding area. On one occasion it almost inundated the imperial palace. There are no such disasters today as the river has long since dried up.

That the Lugou Bridge still stands to this day is a tribute to its superb construction. It was built in 1189 over a period of three years. This stone structure, 266.5 meters long and 7.5 meters wide, rests on 11 arches. On both sides of the bridge are carved stone balustrades supported by 281 stone posts, on each of which stand stone carved lions in various postures. Many of the bigger lions are depicted with frolicking cubs around them, some on their back, others beneath them, and still others visible only as a snout or part of the head poking out from under a belly or a paw. There have been many attempts to make an accurate count of these lions, adult and infant, but it was not until the 1970s that a formal stone lion "census" entailing numbering and tagging, was taken and their number finally reckoned at 485.

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