Longevity Bridge

Longevity Bridge (寿星桥) was built to cross the ancient canal (river for urban defense), located outside the Panmen City Gate (盘门) in southern Suzhou. Traditionally, the bridge has been used for land traffic that goes into Suzhou city. In 1963, Longevity Bridge was listed in Suzhou Municipal Cultural Protection Units.

At first Longevity Bridge was called Ying Bridge (营桥), but it is said that in 1140, a ceramic longevity statue was found at the bottom of the river during a dredging project, so the bridge got its present name. It has a length of 18 meters, the bridge-arch 4.7 meters and height about 2.6 meters above the water. It is a single arch bridge built by laying purple stone bricks. This kind of brick is strong and rugged. Many ancient constructions from Song and Yuan Dynasties were built of this.

The Song Dynasty built parts of Longevity Bridge have been well-preserved. They are in reasonable proportions and imposing colors. The dull looking is in harmony with the surrounding scenes of falling willows and ancient pagodas. Longevity Bridge is typical of Suzhou's small classical bridge attractions. It also has installed the Hundred-lion Bridge's stone fences, which has been removed from a nearby place. The lion bass-relief images are very interesting to see.