logo

The Garden Bridge: Misunderstanding, War, and a Century’s Worth of History

Photo: Historic Shanghai collection

The 1908 Garden Bridge (Waibaidu Qiao 外白渡桥) is that rarest of Shanghai historic treasures: an original structure that is still being used for the same purpose for which it was built. And it’s got quite a story.

Before bridges spanned the river, ferry crossings were the only way to traverse the waterway. Traffic increased after Shanghai became an international treaty port in 1842, and the first wooden bridges were constructed (1853, the Fujian River Bridge). In 1856, the precursor to the Garden Bridge went up: the controversial Wills Bridge.

Bridge of Misunderstanding: The Wills Bridge

The Garden Bridge predecessor, Wills Bridge, was built in 1856. Photo: Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, courtesy Special Collections, University of Bristol Library www.hpcbristol.net

Subscribe to continue reading

Subscribe to get access to the rest of this post and other subscriber-only content.



Comments are closed.