Songpan’s Stunning Bridges

Songpan’s 松潘 Bridges:

Sichuan Province 四川省
Songpan Bridge 映月桥

Songpan’s Stunning Bridges  are one of the highlights of any visit to this gorgeous town.

The mountain town of Songpan 松潘 has undergone a lot of changes in recent years but some original remnants of its wonderful ancient architecture still remain. Two of those structures are the emblematic ancient covered bridges (Gusong Qiao 古松桥 and Yingyue Qiao 映月桥) that span the fast flowing Min river 岷江。 Below are our photos taken before the recent development.

Songpan Bridge 映月桥

Songpan’s Stunning Bridges and Ethnic Minorities

Songpan is an ethnically diverse town with Tibetans, Hui (Chinese Muslims) and Han Chinese all living together.  It’s a great place to relax and has numerous tea houses along the river and next to the bridges.

Songpan Bridge 映月桥

For more pictures of Songpan during its summer festival Click here: Songpan Festival 松潘

For more pictures of Songpan and its people click here:People watching in Songpan松潘

Getting there and away

We arrived in Songpan  on a bus from Chengdu. The bus was going on to the national park of Jiuzhaigu but the driver was happy to drop us off in Songpan. We left Songpan on the early morning bus to Zoige on the border with Gansu and Sichuan.

The Bus arrives in Zoige at around 13.30, but the connecting bus to Langmusi (14.30)  was full and we were forced to get a Taxi from Zoige to Langmusi with a couple of other stranded travelers.  The road between Zoige and Langmusi is now a super highway and not the mud track we had to take.

Click on read more for larger photos:

Songpan Bridge with teahouse

Songpan BridgeSongpan Bridge

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Author: Adam

My name is Adam. I have a degree in Chinese History from SOAS and a masters in International Politics focused on China from the same university. I have travelled around China 9 times and since 2000 I have travelled every year for two months. I guess I kind of like the place!

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