In the middle of Gansu, there is a place called Longzhong. The city seems to have jumped out of the original appearance of Gansu in everyone's mind, with mountains and water, much like a small town in the south. Dingxi, namely "Longzhong", is a prefecture-level city in Gansu Province, which has a history of more than 2,200 years since Longxi was established as a county in the Warring States Period. No matter the geographical location or the rich culture accumulated in the long history, it is also worthy of being "the gateway of Lanzhou and the throat of Gansu".
Dingxi's reputation doesn't seem to be very great, but there are some serious objects or figures hidden in this city ... In Weiyuan County in the middle and west of Dingxi, on the surface of the slowly flowing Qingyuan River, there is a pure wooden cantilever arch bridge named Baling Bridge. Perhaps you don't know, such an arch bridge, which is covered by daily necessities and the noise and triviality of the citizens, is praised by architects as Tongji Bridge, which is second only to Zhaozhou, Hebei Province.
This Baling Bridge, which lies quietly in the upper reaches of Qingyuan River, is not open to the public because of its unstable wooden foundation and long history. With the changes of the times, it has come to this day. Built in the early years of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, it was named Baling Bridge because of the saying that "the Weihe River is around Chang 'an and Baling, and it is the Baling Bridge with Jade Rails". Looking at this wooden bridge from a distance, there is not much sense of contradiction with the surrounding buildings. Perhaps it has already been integrated into the lifeblood of this small town. Baling Bridge, with a total length of 40m, a span of 29.5m, a height of 15.4m and a width of 4.8m, is a unique pure wood stoplog arch bridge in China.
What is special about this bridge is that it is all made of wood. As can be seen from a distance, the whole bridge is divided into 13 rooms with 64 hanging columns; There are 10 thick logs on each row of the bridge deck and bridge bottom, which are arranged in groups according to 1 1; The cornices at the top of the bridge are more exquisite. It seems unremarkable, but it can be preserved so far, which shows that this classical pure wood arch bridge is unusual. We don't know about this bridge because we have little knowledge. In fact, this bridge has a long reputation, and many celebrities have inscribed plaques and eulogies for it.
With the permission of the local tourism bureau, I slowly climbed up the bridge and watched it carefully against the wooden railing, and my heavy sense of history gradually emerged. There are plaques hanging on the arch beam of this arch bridge, including Chiang Kai-shek's Wan Junction, Yu Youren's Journey to the Avenue, Wei Shui Changhong, Zuo Nan Gu Yuan and Pei Jianzhun's Baling Bridge, all of which tell the world the great value of this bridge to future generations.
In the distance are layers of dark clouds, and a rain is falling, rippling in the river of Qingyuan. At one end of Baling Bridge is a woman who dances square dance in the morning. They danced unprofessional steps while wiping their sweat, and they were very comfortable; At the other end, the wandering citizens are choosing all kinds of dishes from the stalls. They should be thinking about going home and cooking a sumptuous lunch for their grandchildren ... These ordinary and trivial life breath is the most dynamic and colorful place in this small town, and this Baling Bridge is silently witnessing the joys and sorrows of this city.
If you come to Dingxi Weiyuan, don't miss this landmark building. Every inch is a record of the past and a beautiful expectation for the future.