This unique landscape in Suzhou

This unique landscape in Suzhou

Have you seen such wonders as "Bridges carrying trees, trees carrying bridges" in "State Travel Notes"?

In Sanhuan Village, Caocun Town, Yongqiao District, at the junction of Jiangsu and Anhui, on the vicissitudes of the Ming and Qing ancient post roads, there is a peculiar landscape of trees and bridges interdependent.

The bridge is a three-hole bridge. ?

The tree is a maple poplar tree.

According to the inscription on the bridge head, this stone bridge is called Sanhuan Bridge. It was built in 1736 AD, the first year of Qianlong, and has a history of nearly 300 years. This stone bridge lies across the Lao Fei River. The bridge is more than three meters wide and about 15 meters long, with three holes in the middle. A tall maple tree grew out of the stone railing on the east side of the bridge. This maple poplar tree is about 80 centimeters in diameter and more than ten meters high. It has lush branches and leaves and is growing vigorously.

How did this maple poplar tree settle on the bridge?

There is a local legend that Zhang, one of the Eight Immortals, rode a donkey upside down onto the bridge and sat on the stone railing to rest. He suffered from the scorching sun and had no place to shade and cool down. He inserted the small wooden stick used to drive the donkey into the crack of the stone, blew on the fairy spirit, and the stick immediately grew into a big tree. However, legends remain legends. According to local villagers, maple poplar trees are rare in surrounding villages, but this tree is commonly found in Huangzang Valley, the source of the Lao Fei River, dozens of miles away. Based on this, it is conceivable that one summer more than 200 years ago, a maple and poplar seed traveled down the river with a mountain torrent, passed through the twists and turns of the river, and was washed into the stone crevices of the Third Ring Bridge.

And this seed has settled here since then, took root and sprouted, and grew from a small seedling into the towering tree it is now. ?

The maple poplar tree and the stone bridge depend on each other for survival and prosperity. Under the care of the bridge, the tree grew and became the bridge tree. Then, the tree grew bigger and bigger, and its roots became deeper and deeper. It tightly surrounded the bridge with its dense root system, supported the bridge, and repaid the bridge with its own life, thus forming the tree-topped bridge.

More than two hundred and eighty years are just a blink in the long river of history, but the trees and bridges have experienced the vicissitudes of the world experienced by four or five generations. Hundreds of years of changing seasons, the baptism of countless wars, the ups and downs and honors and disgrace of the world, have not been able to change the current situation of interdependence between trees and bridges. They are connected hand and foot, and their hearts are connected, becoming an inseparable whole. The bridge and the tree are no longer just historical relics. While people admire its uniqueness, it also enlightens and inspires them.