Covered Bridges: ​Taiping Bridge

Taiping Bridge, Longnan County, Jiangxi    Photographer: Wu Weiping

Whether it is the unexpected encounter and romance on Waterloo Bridge, or the heartbreaking parting on Madison County‘s Roseman Bridge, bridges are often meaningful symbols in artistic works as well as silent listeners in the reality that witness and guard millions of stories. The bridge not only connects the two banks and helps people cross the river, but also connects people and nature, build relationships and stories between people.

We can find various bridges in many parts of the world nowadays, but over half of the world's tallest and longest bridges are located in China. Among them, covered bridges stand out for their distinct structure and shape, incredible construction technology, rich cultural information, as well as countless stories and legends. China is the cradle of the covered bridge. It is a tangible cultural heritage of China with human, historical, architectural, scientific and aesthetic values, as well as a treasure of transportation culture and technology. Most Chinese covered bridges were constructed in ancient dynasties, which are regarded as the carrier of Chinese people’s nostalgia, intelligence and ingenuity and are visited and admired by countless people nowadays.