Stone lions
No two alike.
H2v5o68z — CC0 · Flickr user: 陈鹰 Beijing https://www.flickr.com/photos/40713859@N00/ — CC BY 2.0 · H2v5o68z — CC0 · Taken by Fanghong — CC BY-SA 3.0 · www.manun.cn — CC BY 3.0 · Charlie fong — Public domain · 三猎 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · H2v5o68z — CC0
A stone bridge of eleven arches over the Yongding River in Fengtai, about 15 km south-west of central Beijing, built in 1189–1192 under the Jin dynasty and some 266 m long; Marco Polo praised it in the account of his travels, which is why the West knows it as the Marco Polo Bridge. Its balustrades carry hundreds of carved stone lions, no two alike, with smaller lions hiding on their heads, backs and under their paws, and an old saying holds that no one can count them. At its ends stand steles and ornamental columns, among them the «Lugou Xiaoyue» stele, the dawn moon over Lugou, one of the eight famous views of old Beijing. At the east end lies the walled Wanping Fortress, where a clash in July 1937 began the full-scale war between China and Japan; a museum about that war stands inside. Entry is CNY 20, and it is open from 8 am to 8 pm in summer and to 7 pm in winter, per visitor guides. The bridge is closed to traffic, and Wanpingcheng station on Metro Line 16 is a short walk away.
No two alike.
12th century.
At the east end.
Yongding River, Fengtai District, about 15 km south-west of central Beijing
Because the traveller Marco Polo described and praised it in the account of his 13th-century journeys, and Europeans came to know it by his name.