The Mingyuan Bridge is located in Fengjian Township, Xingtan Town. According to the records of Shunde County Annals, this bridge was built by Li Shixiu in the Song Dynasty. It is one of the beam-type three-arch stone arch bridges in Shunde with relatively early documentary records. Due to repeated renovations over the generations, it is difficult to find the style of the Song Dynasty now, and only the style of the Ming Dynasty remains.
According to historical records, Li Shixiu, courtesy name Jianye, is from Fengjian, Xingtan Town. He was a successful candidate in the imperial examination in the year of 1199 in the Qingyuan period of the Song Dynasty. He served as a supervisory official in Fujian Province and was promoted to a provincial political advisor in Zhejiang Province. He built several large stone bridges in his hometown to facilitate pedestrians. This bridge is a beam-type three-arch stone arch bridge constructed with red sandstone. It is 24.8 meters long, 4.7 meters wide at the top, and 4.5 meters high. The bridge arch is constructed by longitudinal jointing method. The decorative panels of the bridge railing are engraved with various patterns. There are fourteen pillars on each side. The pillar tops are carved with a stone lion. Now only ten remain. The ramps on both sides of the bridge are not paved with stone steps. Pedestrians come and go like on an up and down slope. In ancient times, carriages and horses could pass through the bridge unimpeded. Standing on the bridge and looking around, on both sides of the wide river, the neatly built stone walls are close to the river bank. On the banana and sugarcane fields, the foundations of the old shops can be vaguely recognized, outlining a prosperous scene of an ancient water town market for us.The specific opening hours and business status are subject to the opening situation on that day.
