The 800-year-old
Lugou Bridge in southwestern Beijing, which
featured in Marco Polo's travelogues, is showing signs of weather
erosion, with nine of its stone lion sculptures seriously damaged.
The bridge is famous both in China and overseas for its
exquisite architecture, according to an official with the cultural
relics department of the Lugou Bridge tourist site.
In addition to the nine that are badly damaged, cracks have been
found on many other stone lions, the official, surnamed Wang, said.
He added that it will be difficult to repair the damaged
sculptures.
The State Administration of Cultural Heritage has commissioned
experts to investigate the situation and develop a repair plan.
Monitoring equipment has been set up on the bridge to study
environmental factors such as temperature and wind force.
The bridge was first built in 1189 and has been refurbished and
repaired several times since then.
The great Italian traveler Marco Polo, who came to China during
the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), wrote this of the bridge: "Over the
river, there is an extremely beautiful stone bridge. Come to think
of it, it is indeed the most wonderful and unique bridge in the
world ..."
The bridge, 266.5 meters long and 7.5 meters wide, has 11
arches. But it is most famous for its 485 lifelike and intricately
carved stone lions. In addition to the lions, there are cubs etched
into the design of the bridge. But because they are very small,
each measuring no more than a few centimeters, it is difficult to
gauge just how many there are.?
(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2006)
