When traveling to Hangzhou, I want to visit the Qiantang River Bridge. Is it necessary?

Thank you for the invitation.

We learned the story of the Qiantang River Bridge in textbooks when we were children, but textbooks are still textbooks after all, and only by walking on the bridge can you feel its charm. Brother Niu suggested that since you are here, don’t miss the opportunity to visit the Qiantang River Bridge. It doesn’t take long but you will gain a lot. Its historical value and architectural features are very worthy of our appreciation.

The Qiantang River Bridge was completed in 1937. It was the first road-rail dual-purpose bridge designed and constructed by the Chinese themselves. It was praised by the whole country. In 2016, the Qiantang River Bridge was selected into the list of "The First Batch of China's 20th Century Architectural Heritage".

The Qiantang River Bridge is located on the Qiantang River south of the West Lake in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, near the Liuhe Pagoda. Designed by bridge expert Mao Yisheng, it is the first double-decker railway and highway bridge designed and built by China itself. Crossing the north and south of the Qiantang River, it is an important transportation artery connecting the Shanghai-Hangzhou-Ningbo Railway and the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Railway.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Qiantang River Bridge. The bridge is still standing strong every day, with a highway on top and a railway in the middle, and ships passing by on the Qiantang River below. It is one of the main roads leading from the main urban area of ??Hangzhou to the Binjiang River, and is hailed as a "strong bridge" by Hangzhou citizens.

The construction of the Qiantang River Bridge started in 1934 and was completed in 1937. It took three years and one month to invest a total of 5.4 million silver dollars. It was blown up on December 23, 1937 to prevent Japanese troops from moving south from northern Zhejiang. After the Anti-Japanese War, the Qianjiang Bridge began to be rebuilt. In May 1953, the Qianjiang First Bridge was reopened to traffic.

There are too many stories about the Qiantang River Bridge in the past 80 years. The most famous one is of course when the Japanese army occupied Hangzhou. On December 23, 1937, in order to prevent the Japanese army from invading south, Mao Yisheng was ordered to blow up the bridge. Out of grief and anger, he personally blew up the bridge which had only been open to traffic for three months. The bridge was severely damaged. All the No. 14 piers were blown up. Some of the steel beams fell into the river at the Xiaoshan direction, and some of the steel beams sank to the bottom of the river. That night, Mao Yisheng wrote 8 characters in front of his desk: "The war of resistance must be won, and this bridge must be restored."

After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Mao Yisheng's vow was quickly fulfilled. Since Mao Yisheng personally presided over the restoration in March 1947, the Qiantang River Bridge has not undergone any technical overhaul.

“A bridge connects the north and the south, and the chasm becomes a thoroughfare.” The Qiantang River Bridge is like a jade belt, spanning the river and becoming an important transportation thoroughfare connecting Shanghai, Hangzhou and Ningbo. The traffic volume of the bridge has increased from more than 100 cars and 4.9 pairs of trains in 1949 to nearly 10,000 cars and more than 70 pairs of trains in the early 1990s. The bridge plays a very important role in the economic development of the southeastern coastal provinces and cities and even the country.

Every year on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, the Qianjiang River surges to its peak, with the tide reaching several meters. When the tide comes, the sound is like thunder, overwhelming the mountains and the sea, like thousands of horses galloping, which is a spectacular sight. Tide watching began in the Han and Wei Dynasties (from the first to the sixth century AD) and flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties (from the seventh to the 13th century AD). After more than 2,000 years, it has become a local custom.

Today, the Qiantang River Bridge has been in service for 80 years, and has been in service for 30 years over its age. The war years have left numerous scars, and it is still operating under overload. It is praised by netizens as a "strong bridge" because it "gets stronger when it gets older" . It is like an elder, standing at the forefront of the tide, witnessing the city of Hangzhou's perseverance yesterday and its prosperity today, inspiring people to remember history and forge ahead.