Explore Historical Sites: Wannian Bridge

"There are lush green mountains and bridges everywhere, shrinking thousands of miles into a stone's throw, connecting two places as one family." In the beautiful mountains and waters of Lin'an’s mountainous area, there are numerous ancient bridges. Most of them were built during the Ming, Qing, and Republican periods and are still used by people on both sides for transportation.

Located in Qian Village, Banqiao Town, Wannian Bridge was built during the Republican period. It spans an unnamed stream from northeast to southwest. It is a single-arch stone bridge, 5.2 meters long and 2.9 meters wide. The arch is built with stone blocks, with a span of 4 meters and a height of 2.4 meters. The bridge deck is paved with flagstones, and the heavy stones are carved with relief patterns of tridents.

There are pillars and railings on both sides of the bridge deck. The northeast end is connected to the front gate of Zhang Family Ancestral Hall, and the southwest end has five steps. On the northwest face of the arch stone, the words "Wannian Bridge" are carved, and next to it is the inscription "Built in the summer of the Republican Year Yiwei."

The southeast side of the door lintel is carved with the characters "Hejian." On both sides of the northwest side of the bridge, there are long stone pieces embedded with relief carvings of centipedes. The centipede is 1.3 meters long and exquisitely crafted.

In April 2006, Wannian Bridge was announced as a cultural relic protection site in Hangzhou.