Category:Wanding Bridge, Protected truss bridge in Wanding Town, China.
Wanding Bridge is a steel truss structure that spans a river and links the Chinese frontier town to the neighboring Burmese settlement. The span includes customs and inspection stations that manage daily crossings between the two nations.
The bridge gained strategic importance during World War II as a link in the Burma Road, moving supplies between India, Burma, and China. It later became a permanent crossing point between the two nations.
The bridge's Dai name, ᥑᥨᥝᥴ ᥝᥢᥰ ᥖᥥᥒ, is also rendered as Wanjiao Bridge. On 15 December 1956 Zhou Enlai and He Long walked across it with Burmese premier U Ba Swe, then spoke at the bridgehead before the China-Burma border peoples' gathering in Mangshi. The old span is now kept for visitors only.
Visitors need to arrange border crossing formalities through a travel agency, which requires providing documentation for customs clearance. It is best to visit early in the day, as the inspection stations can become crowded during peak hours.
The old span, a 21-metre Bailey truss rebuilt in January 1945, was retired in 1993 when a new 40-metre prestressed arch bridge opened beside it; the wartime bridge now serves only visitors. Its steel panels and timber decking survive largely as rebuilt after Japanese troops blew up the 1938 stone arch.
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