Jade Belt Bridge

The Moon Bridge is a heavily curved crescent-shaped pedestrian bridge typical of gardens in China and Japan. It is very functional, as it takes up little space and does not interfere with the movement of small vessels along the reservoir. Equipped with stairs and railings.

A classic example is the Jade Belt Bridge ("Yudaqiao") at the western shore of the Kunming Lake in the Summer Palace of the Qianlong Emperor. This stone bridge, built in 1751-64, is designed in such a way as to allow the imperial rook to pass under it.

The shape of the arch was chosen for the bridge, so that the imperial dragon boat could pass under it. Such a rather large height of the Yudaqiao Bridge was due to the functional side of the transition from one bank to the other with the possibility of sailing under the arch on the imperial dragon boat - a large 20-seater canoe with the head and tail of a dragon.

Not far from the summer imperial palace of the Qin Dynasty on the outskirts of Beijing is an amazing stone arch bridge, striking with its deceptive fragility and elegance of lines.

The Yudaqiao Bridge is the most famous of the six bridges located on the western shore of Lake Kunminhu, mainly due to the fact that it is a very high and at the same time thin arch, masterfully executed in stone and marble from an architectural and aesthetic point of view.

Bridges of this shape are called "lunar" - because of the similarity of the arch with the shape of a crescent.

Moon bridges are equipped with convenient stairs with wide steps and railings, so that crossing them is not difficult.

Such pedestrian bridges are widespread in China and Japan due to their practicality — the shape of the bridge allows you to leave enough space for fairly large vessels to pass along the river.

Arch bridges were the most common type of bridges in medieval China. They are distinguished by their beauty and high strength. Lime mortar and bovine blood were used to bind stone blocks.

The Yudajiao Bridge (Jade Belt) is one of the most exquisite Chinese arch bridges. It was built like a similar bridge in Hangzhou, but taking into account the peculiarities of the local natural landscape.

Yudaiqiao (Chinese: уп, pinyin: Yù Dài Qiáo, lit. "Jade Belt Bridge") is a lunar bridge built in the XVIII century, located in Beijing on the territory of the former Summer Imperial Palace. 

Cranes and other animals are engraved on the railing of the bridge.

The Yudaqiao Bridge, famous for its high and thin arch, is the most famous of the six bridges located in the area of the west coast of Kunminhu Lake.

It was erected in 1751-1764, under the emperor, who ruled under the motto "Qianlong", in the style of bridges typical of rural areas of Southern China.

Marble and other white building materials were used in the construction.

Since Kunminhu Lake is connected to one of the rivers, in some cases the emperor and Empress went on a trip on a dragon boat, and she had to pass under this bridge.

Of course, there were not 20 people in the imperial canoe — it was equipped with maximum comfort for the monarch and his wife, and elite rowers who had passed a strict selection sat on the oars. The dragon-like canoe was used in cases when the imperial family went on a trip along the river connected with the lake.