Dayunhe Gongchen Bridge

The Gongchen Bridge spans the Grand Canal with a single, steep stone arch that rises thirty feet above the water. It was built in sixteen thirty-one by a local magistrate named Hang Jin to provide a crossing for travelers and merchants. During the height of the Qing Dynasty, it marked the northern terminus of the Hangzhou section of the canal. Officials and scholars traveling south from Beijing stepped off their boats here to enter the city, often pausing to pay their respects.