Ancient Bridge Landscapes of China

China is home to many bridges and has been described as ‘the country of bridges’ since ancient times. The superb bridge-building techniques and architecture have led China’s ancient bridges to become important landscape resources, such as the Zhaozhou Bridge in Hebei Province, Luoyang Bridge in Quanzhou, Lugou Bridge in Beijing and Xiangzi Bridge in Chaozhou. China covers a large area, which has led to the evolution of unique bridge characteristics and styles to suit the local conditions of different regions. The bridges in the north are mainly broad and composed of stone arches and stone beams, and the bridges in southwestern and northwestern China are mainly built of rattans, bamboo ropes and wood posts and are mainly in the form of rope suspension bridges or cantilever wood bridges. In the Fujian and Guangdong coastal areas in southern China, hard granite is abundant; therefore, stone bridges are common in these regions. In the areas of the minority tribes in Yunnan Province,...