HomeAsiaJade Belt – Traditional Design High Arched Bridge
Jade Belt – Traditional Design High Arched Bridge
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Jade Belt Bridge is a high, arched bridge built with a traditional Chinese design. Originally, this design was made for very practical purposes. To give pedestrians access across canals between paddy fields, and to permit barges traveling along the canals to pass under it. The Jade Belt Bridge is also recognized as the Camel’s Back Bridge.
It is an 18th-century pedestrian Moon Bridge well located on the grounds of the Summer Palace in Beijing, China. It is well-known for its unique, tall, thin single arch. The Jade Belt Bridge is the most famous of the six bridges on the western shore of Kunming Lake. It was erected in the years 1751–1764. During the supremacy of the Qianlong Emperor, it was strongly built in the style of the subtle bridges in the countryside of southern China.
It is solidly made from marble and other white stones. The ornate bridge railings are adorned with carvings of cranes and other animals, and the clearance of the arch was selected to accommodate the dragon boat of the Qianlong Emperor.
Kunming Lake is an inlet to the neighboring Yu River and is used on special occasions. The emperors and empresses and their dragon boats would clearly pass under this bridge. So please be sure, that the Jade Belt Bridge at the Summer Palace is on your list of “Top Five” places to visit when you arrive in Beijing, China. The Chinese believe that this bridge is a link between the earth and heaven.