Wanning Bridge is located outside Di'anmen Gate. It was built in the Yuan Dynasty and is commonly known as "Haizi Bridge" and "Houmen Bridge". Because of the bridge's location on the central axis, it is very important geographically, echoing the north-south "overpass" on the same axis, and it is also called the "ground bridge (Di Qiao)".
Wanning Bridge, located in Di'anmenwai Street, Xicheng District, is a municipal-level cultural relic protection unit in Beijing. It was built in the 22nd year of Zhiyuan of the Yuan Dynasty (1285). Wanning Bridge was originally a wooden bridge but was changed to a stone arch bridge in the Yuan Dynasty, and named Wanning Bridge, also known as Haizi Bridge and Back Gate Bridge. The stone bridge in the Yuan Dynasty spanned the estuary where Shichahai enters the Yuhe River and was the endpoint of the Grand Canal in the Yuan Dynasty. There is a sluice under the bridge, and through the sluice lifting and releasing to stop the water by passing the boat so that the grain ships from the south can go straight to the Dadu (Beijing). Southern vessels along the river can directly arrive in Haizi and berth. At that time, most residents also called it Haizi Sluice Gate, which was later renamed Qingming Sluice Gate. The bridge is a single-hole arch bridge made of white marble with a length of more than 10m and a width of nearly 10m. There are white marble guardrails on both sides, carved with patterns such as lotus vases. In the 1950s, the stone bridge floor surfaced with asphalt, and the river was filled to build houses. The lower part of the bridge is buried under the roadbed, and only the railings of the bridge remain. In 1984, it was announced to delineate the protection scope and construction control zone, mainly to protect its sidewalls and guardrails, and no other protection scope was delineated. In 2000, Beijing renovated and repaired the Houmen Bridge. The destroyed bridge railings were repaired according to the old ones. The water beast statues under the bridge hole and on the river bank were kept in place, and the river was dredged. At the same time, the original bridge name "Wanning Bridge" was restored and a monument was built beside the bridge.
Wanning Bridge spans the estuary where Shichahai enters the Yuhe River and is the endpoint of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. As one of China’s Grand Canal heritage sites, Wanning Bridge was selected as a "World Cultural Heritage" in 2014.
Address: Outside Di'anmen Gate, Beijing
