In front of you is Yíndìng Bridge, “the silver ingot”, named for its curved shape, like the ingots once used as money. It joins Qianhai lake to Houhai, and on clear days you could see the Western Hills from here: “viewing the hills from Yinding Bridge” was one of the city's famous sights.

1Explosives in the night

In February 1910 a group of young revolutionaries plotted to kill Zaifeng, the Prince Regent who ruled on behalf of the child emperor Puyi. Their leader was Wang Jingwei, then 26. For weeks they had run a secret base in Liulichang, with a photography studio as cover. On the night of the attack they buried a bomb under a bridge the regent crossed on his way to the palace, but someone saw them laying the wires and they fled.

Tradition puts the bomb under this bridge, and Wang himself told it that way, although one of his comrades and some historians place it under another bridge nearby, Ganshui Bridge.

The police took two months to track them down. In April 1910 Wang was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was saved by the 1911 revolution, which brought the dynasty to an end. Decades later his name would become linked to collaboration with Japan during the war.

Today's bridge is a 1980s reconstruction, renovated in 2011.

2What to look for

  • The single arch of the bridge, best seen from the bank.
  • The view to the west, across Houhai lake.
  • Kaorou Ji, the griddled lamb restaurant founded in 1848, beside the bridge.

Documented

In 1910 Wang Jingwei and his comrades buried a bomb under a bridge in this area to kill the regent Zaifeng; they were arrested in April that year.

Oral tradition

That the bomb lay exactly under Yinding Bridge is the popular version; other sources place it at Ganshui Bridge.

Sources and credits

Howard L. Boorman (ed.), “Biographical Dictionary of Republican China” (1967–1971), entry on Wang Jingwei; Xicheng District Government, information on Shichahai; Jasper Becker, “City of Heavenly Tranquility” (2008).

Photos:

  • The channel between the Shichahai lakes with the small arched Yinding Bridge and houses with wooden balconies: MarcBogonovich, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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