Precious Belt Bridge, Stone footbridge in Suzhou, China

The Precious Belt Bridge is a stone footbridge in Suzhou with 53 arches spanning 317 meters across waterways. It connects Tantai Lake basin with the Grand Canal, allowing passage over these important water systems in the city.

The bridge was built in 816 during the Tang Dynasty after Wang Zhongshu sold his decorated belt to fund the construction. This origin shaped the structure's name and story, which has endured through the centuries.

The bridge's name comes from Wang Zhongshu, the Tang prefect of Suzhou, who is said to have funded construction with his own decorated belt instead of forced labour or extra taxes. In Chinese it is also called the "Small Long Bridge". The bridge carried the towpath of the Grand Canal, which is why its railings have no solid panels.

The bridge stands about 6 km southeast of Suzhou's old city, near the Fengmen Gate, where the Grand Canal meets Tantai Lake. It is a footbridge with no parapet boards, so watch your step along the 4.1 m width. Only one stone lion survives, at the north entrance; the south lion was destroyed and replaced in 1956.

The bridge has no parapet boards along its deck: it carried a towpath for trackers hauling boats along the Grand Canal, so the spans were left open for the tow ropes. John Barrow of the 1793 Macartney Embassy measured the bridge and noted that its three central arches rise above the rest.