Marco Polo Bridge
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Lugou Bridge 卢沟桥 |
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| Coordinates | 39° 50′ 57″ N, 116° 12′ 47″ E |
| Locale | Fengtai District, Beijing |
| Other name(s) | Marco Polo Bridge |
| Characteristics | |
| Total length | 266.5 m |
| Width | 9.3 m |
| No. of spans | 11 |
| Piers in water | 10 |
| History | |
| Construction end | 1698 |
| Marco Polo Bridge | |||||||||
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| Simplified Chinese | |||||||||
| Literal meaning | Lu Ditch Bridge | ||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Lúgōuqiáo |
| Wade–Giles | Lu-kou Chiao |
The Marco Polo Bridge or Lugou Bridge is a stone bridge located 15 km southwest of Beijing city center in the Fengtai District. It bridges the Yongding River, a major tributary of Hai River. Situated at the eastern end of the bridge is the Wanping Fortress, a historic 17th-century fortress, with the Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression inside.
In recent years, the water of Yongding River has been diverted to different areas of Beijing so often there is no water under the bridge.
The name "Marco Polo Bridge" derives from its appearance in his book of travels, where he praised it highly. The names "Lugou" or "Lukou Bridge" and "Lugouqiao" or "Lukouchiao" derive from Lugou, a former name of the Yongding.
Over this river there is a very fine stone bridge, so fine indeed, that it has very few equals in the world.
Construction of the original bridge on this site commenced in 1189, the final year of Emperor Shizong of Jin's reign and was completed under his successor in 1192. Following damage from the flooding Yongding, the bridge was reconstructed under the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty in 1698. The Marco Polo Bridge is well-known because it was highly praised by the Venetian traveler Marco Polo during his visit to China in the 13th century (leading the bridge to become known in Europe simply as the Marco Polo Bridge), and for the 20th century Marco Polo Bridge Incident, which marked the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945).
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