Pont de Longnao, Stone beam bridge in Lu County, Luzhou, China
The Longnao Bridge is a stone beam bridge on the Jiouqu River in Fuzi Town, Lu County, Luzhou, Sichuan. Built 1378–1389 under the Ming Hongwu emperor, it is 54 m long and 1.9 m wide on twelve piers; the eight middle piers carry large stone figures of dragons, qilins, lions and elephants, heads facing upstream and tails downstream, with stone beams laid between them.
The bridge was built between 1378 and 1389, in the 11th to 31st years of the Hongwu reign of the Ming dynasty. It was listed as a Sichuan provincial cultural relic on 16 April 1991 and as a national key cultural relic on 20 November 1996.
The bridge's name, "Dragon Brain", refers to the dragon heads carved on the upstream side of the eight central piers, facing the current of the Jiǔqū River. The four beasts — dragon, qilin, lion and elephant — alternate along the piers, each with its head upstream and tail downstream, and the stone beams rest between them.
The bridge crosses the Jiouqu River in the northern part of Fuzi Town, Lu County, Luzhou, Sichuan. It is a protected national cultural relic, so visitors view the piers and carvings from the riverbank rather than walking the 1.9-metre-wide deck. The eight carved middle piers face the upstream side, so approach from upstream to see the heads.
The eight middle piers carry four kinds of beasts — dragons, qilins, lions and elephants — with heads facing upstream and tails downstream, a placement rarely seen on bridge piers. The bridge was listed as a Sichuan provincial cultural relic on 16 April 1991 and as a national key cultural relic on 20 November 1996.
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