The Bridge
This afternoon, we were driving around some of the villages in 十三陵, the area around the Ming Tombs. Even though there are only thirteen tombs, there are dozens of villages north of Changping that are considered part of this region.
We had gone first through Yanzikou, the village that hosts a small Catholic Church. Over the hill from that town are the villages of Shitouyuan and Zhuishi. Somewhere among all three of these villages was an area of fruit and nut tree groves on flat, terraced lots. There we saw this bridge.
We have driven over this bridge a few times previously, but this was the first time we noticed it from this direction. I had Randy stop the car so we could get a better look.
More after the jump.
The bridge is obvious old, or at least older than the car traffic it now carries. There are three visible layers of construction.
It also seemed to have been built to allow for some serious volume of water to flow under it. Today, that river bed is long since dry, and partially filled to support the local agriculture.
The arches under the bridge remain, evidence of why it was once necessary, and now used as a dry storage area for corn husks and bundled sticks.
This isn't the first time I've blogged about the greater Beijing area's dry river and canal beds that have been taken over to pasture livestock or grow crops. It does continue to fascinate me, the numerous routes that water has been diverted over the years in this region. Today what was additionally noteworthy was that when I was taking at least one of the pictures above, I was standing on a manhole cover. The river is dry, the water sources either used up or diverted in other directions, and water now comes from the city system. I don't find this tragic or triumphant, but merely interesting.
More after the jump.
The bridge is obvious old, or at least older than the car traffic it now carries. There are three visible layers of construction.
It also seemed to have been built to allow for some serious volume of water to flow under it. Today, that river bed is long since dry, and partially filled to support the local agriculture.
The arches under the bridge remain, evidence of why it was once necessary, and now used as a dry storage area for corn husks and bundled sticks.
This isn't the first time I've blogged about the greater Beijing area's dry river and canal beds that have been taken over to pasture livestock or grow crops. It does continue to fascinate me, the numerous routes that water has been diverted over the years in this region. Today what was additionally noteworthy was that when I was taking at least one of the pictures above, I was standing on a manhole cover. The river is dry, the water sources either used up or diverted in other directions, and water now comes from the city system. I don't find this tragic or triumphant, but merely interesting.
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