天生橋景區

Nanjing Tianshengqiao


Useful Information

Location: No. 500, Tianshengqiao Road, Honglan Town, Lishui District, Nanjing.
(31.64543820149833, 118.97965958668168)
Open: All year daily 8-17:30.
[2025]
Fee: Adults CNY .
Boat Ride CNY 40.
Glas Bridge CNY 30.
[2025]
Classification: strange bridge
Light: n/a
Dimension:
Guided tours: self guided
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: yes
Bibliography:
Address: Nanjing Tianshengqiao, No. 500, Tianshengqiao Road, Honglan Town, Lishui District, Nanjing, Tel: +86-25-57204511.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1393 canal build by Chongshan Hou Li Xin, ordered by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Description

天生橋景區 (Tiansheng Bridge Scenic Spot) is a generic name which exists multiple times in China. Tianshengqiao translates literally "bridge created by god" an is the term used for a natural bridge. But China has dozens of spectacular natural bridges, and numerous have thus the name Tianshengqiao. To keep them apart, we named this one Nanjing Tianshengqiao, by adding the nearby city Nanjing. The site is located on the west side of Nanjing-Gaoyuan Expressway, 3 km west of Lishui County, which is known as the source of Qinhuai River.

The natural bridge crosses 胭脂河 (Yānzhī hé, Rouge River), which is also known as 天生桥河 (Tiānshēngqiáo hé, Natural Bridge River). The scenic area has several sights, like the Lishui Tiansheng Bridge Museum, Phoenix Well Sightseeing Area, Tiansheng Music Valley Theme Leisure Area, Tiansheng Bridge Rouge River Scenic Sightseeing Area, and Hexi Leisure Area. The tourist center service area is located at a four-lane road which actually ends here.

But after so much "created by god" you might be astonished that Rouge River is a famous artificial canal dug by Zhu Yuanzhang to connect the canal transportation between Jiangsu and Zhejiang. In 1393, Zhu Yuanzhang sent Chongshan Hou Li Xin to Lishui to "supervise the officials to dig Rouge River". In other words, Tiansheng Bridge is a well-known stone bridge which was created a century ago by hard-working men. But there are some aspects which convinced us to list it anyway. There was a hill of reddish sandstone, and the canal was built by cutting a straight canal with vertical walls into the rock. But somewhere in the middle the two canals met, and the workers decided to remove only the lower part of the rock and leave a thick layer on the top. This is the bridge, which consists actually of natural rock and was created by removing the surrounding rock. So this bridge was not built, although it is not natural. It was created by man, not by nature and not by god.

The reason why this bridge was not removed is unknown. Probably it was used by the workers to cross the canal or transport material. Probably they just saved the time and work necessary to remove all the rock. Its even possible it was intended as a bridge so the people could cross the canal easily when it was completed. But it was pretty unsafe, as the surface was uneven, slippery during rain and there was no railing. When the scenic area was created, a wooden plank-way with railings was built on top of the rock. Now it is safe to cross the bridge and have a look on the canal below. It’s also possible to see the bridge from below on a boat trip along the canal.