There are many brigdes that cross the world's third-longest river, the Chang Jiang, or Yangtze River. The city of Wuhan, central China's largest city and the capital of Hubei Province, has three Yangtze River bridges, but the first Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge is a very special bridge feted annually to this day because it was the first bridge to be constructed across the mighty Yangtze River.
Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge is the first highway-railway bridge over the Yangtze River. On the mighty Yangtze with a length of 6,300 kilometers (3,915 miles), there was no bridge for thousands of years. This river seemed an obstacle set by nature, separating Hanyang, Hankou and Wuchang, namely the three towns of Wuhan. Moreover, it blocked the transportation between the north and the south China. Only ship can be used. However, the natural obstacle became accessible for various vehicles due to the finish of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge in 1957.
Started in 1955, the grand bridge project takes about two years. The complete bridge is 1,670.4 meters (5,480.3 feet) long with the main body of 1,156 meters (3,793 feet). It has 8 piers and 9 holes. The bridge is divided into two levels with the upper one for bus transit and the lower for trains. The driveway is 18 meters (59 feet) wide for six buses to run parallel. The bridge is extremely firm. It has not been harmed even during the huge Wenchuan Earthquake in 2008.
The towers of this handsome bridge, nothwithstanding the Soviet engineering influence in general, are constructed in a quintessentially Chinese fashion, exuding exquisite balance and harmony. The tower buildings as well as the 143 panes along each side of the bridge are decorated in traditional Chinese folkloric themes, such as the strutting peacock showing off its fine feathers, the blissful carp cavorting among lotus plants or the magpie singing at full throat on the branch of a plum tree in blossom.
From the bridge, you can see the rolling water run to the east with ships coming and going; on the bank, Hubei TV Tower stands tall on Tortoise Hill (Gui Shan) in Hanyang, while the first tower in southern China, the Yellow Crane Tower (Huang He Lou), stands on Snake Hill (She Shan) in Wuchang.
Related information: Now, in Wuhan, there are already three grand bridges over the Yangtze River - Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge described above, the Second Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge established in 1995 and the Third Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge (Baishazhou Bridge) opened in 2000.
Admission Fee: CNY 5 for the elevator