China’s Wooden Arch Bridges Showcase the “Beauty of Load-Bearing”

 

(Lishui, Zhejiang, May 4) – Using fewer than twenty wooden sticks thinner than a forearm, a wooden arch bridge can be assembled in just a few minutes, capable of supporting up to five adults. During this May Day holiday, in Qingyuan County, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province, Hu Miao, a national-level inheritor of the traditional craftsmanship of wooden arch bridges, along with his son Hu Junfeng, often amazes spectators with this remarkable skill. 

In December 2024, UNESCO moved China’s "Traditional Craftsmanship of Wooden Arch Bridges" from the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. “This shift indicates that the endangered status of this craft has been reversed, and systematic protection efforts have achieved significant success,” said Liu Yan, an associate professor at Kunming University of Science and Technology’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning. 

Wooden arch bridges are unique in the history of global bridge architecture and have long attracted attention. The rainbow bridge crossing the Bian River in painter Zhang Zeduan’s Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival from the Northern Song Dynasty is a wooden arch bridge. In recent years, animated films and movies such as Monkey King: Hero is Back, The Painted Veil, and Shadow have also featured wooden arch bridges. 

Currently, only about 110 wooden arch bridges remain in China, mainly distributed in the mountainous border areas between Fujian and Zhejiang Provinces. Known as a “natural museum of ancient covered bridges,” Qingyuan County is home to 25 wooden arch bridges. In the county center, the nearly 40-meter-long Yonggui Bridge spans tranquil waters, its arch-like wooden structure supporting a covered corridor adorned with historic calligraphy and paintings. Lanxi Bridge in Xiyang Village boasts the largest single-span wooden arch bridge from the Ming Dynasty, with a span of 34.5 meters. Meanwhile, Rulong Bridge in Yueshan Village is the longest-surviving wooden arch bridge in China, resembling a dragon poised to leap, blending seamlessly with the ancient pine forest on the nearby ridge. 

“Wooden arch bridges use interwoven timber segments to create arches capable of spanning large distances. Above the deck is a covered corridor for pedestrians, while the structure below serves as the load-bearing system,” Liu Yan explained. The components of Fujian-Zhejiang wooden arch bridges are entirely joined using mortise-and-tenon techniques, providing stability and enabling construction under simple conditions with strategic joint placement.

For generations living in the Fujian-Zhejiang border area, wooden arch covered bridges have been spaces for socializing, shelters from storms, and deep-seated cultural symbols. In Qingyuan during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was customary for scholars departing to take imperial examinations to walk across a wooden arch bridge and receive blessings from family and friends. 

Spanning millennia, wooden arch covered bridges connect riversides, mountains, and valleys, linking the past and the future. 

Born in 1997, Hu Junfeng graduated from Ningbo University with a degree in civil engineering. In 2022, he left his job in Shanghai to return to his hometown and learn the craft of building wooden arch covered bridges from his father. In January this year, Hu Miao’s team completed the Xiping Covered Bridge in Xiping Village, Shouning County, Fujian Province. 

“I used my expertise to create design drawings and models for the Xiping Covered Bridge using CAD software and assisted in project management,” said Hu Junfeng. The father-son duo also drew inspiration from the folk game “chopstick bridge building” to design cultural and creative products based on wooden arch covered bridges, attracting greater public interest in the craft. 

In recent years, Qingyuan has launched campaigns to popularize its wooden arch bridge cultural heritage, hosting five consecutive Qingyuan Covered Bridge Trail Races, with over 10,000 participants to date. The race routes traverse several wooden arch covered bridges. Visiting these bridges has become a trendy “check-in” activity, where tourists can spend 20 minutes assembling a wooden bridge model to “bring intangible cultural heritage home.” 

After experiencing the “chopstick bridge building” game in Qingyuan, Kazakhstani student Du Yilong remarked, “Using just 15 chopsticks to construct a bridge capable of bearing several kilograms showcases the ingenuity of Chinese architectural wisdom.”