Yijin Bridge (衣锦桥), also known as Banshan Bridge (半山桥), stands at the intersection of two roads named Shiqiao and Linding at the southern foot of Banshan Mountain (半山), Hangzhou. It spans the Shangtang River (上塘河) from south to north. According to the stele inscriptions in the Qing Dynasty, “the Reconstruction of Yijin Bridge”, Yijin Bridge was built in the second year of Emperor Xizong’s Reign of the Tang Dynasty, destroyed at the end of the Nandu Period (the period when the Song Dynasty moved the capital south to Hangzhou because of the invasion of the Jin State) and restored in the Emperor Shizu’s Reign of the Yuan Dynasty. It was not until 1623, the third year of the Tianqi Year of the Ming Dynasty, when the Yijin Bridge almost collapsed due to long years of neglect and poor repair, that it was renovated with the support of the local gentry. The current Yijin Bridge was rebuilt in 1778, the forty-third year of Emperor Qianlong’s Reign of the Qing Dynasty.
Yijin Bridge is a semicircular one-hole stone-arched bridge. The bridge measures 29.5 meters in length and 4.48 meters in width. The arch adopts a longitudinal segmental paralleling brick-laying method with the vault decorated with a group of dragon pattern-featured stone carvings and the soffit inscribed with the record of people donating money to build the bridge. The Jin’gang Wall (a reinforced wall hidden inside the architecture) is made of boulder strips building on one another crisscross. The columns on the south and north sides of the wall were inscribed with couplets. The bridge floor was carved with sunflower patterns and steps are set into the bridge slopes at both ends. Both sides of the bridge are enclosed with plain stone railings and balusters. A section of the old track road still exists on the north side of the bridge hole. It is over 20 meters long and made of bluestone slabs. Usually submerged under water, it only appears above water when the water level is low. Although it has seen all the vicissitudes of life, it is still relatively in good shape. On the wall of the bridge hole are still to be seen the marks made by towropes as they rubbed against the wall during the long years of boat trackers towing boats in ancient times.
Yijin Bridge is on the water transportation passage of the Shangtang River and has been endowed with historical, artistic and scientific value. In 2003, Yijin Bridge was included in the list of the first batch of Hangzhou Municipal Cultural Heritage Protection Spots; In 2009, Yijin Bridge was chosen as one of Hangzhou Municipal Cultural Heritage Protection Units.