A new bridge across the Yangtze linking the riverside cities of
Yangzhou and Zhenjiang in Jiangsu
Province will open to traffic on May 1, local officials said
over the weekend.
The 36-kilometer Runyang Bridge, connecting Yangzhou with an
expressway to Shanghai on the south bank, is expected to usher in a
new era of growth for Yangzhou, according to Vice Mayor Hong
Jinhua.
It will take only three hours to drive to Shanghai, eliminating
the need for the ferries upon which people have relied in the past.
There are also slip roads linking the bridge to expressways to
Beijing and Nanjing.
The suspension bridge, with a span 50 meters above the water,
allows 50,000-ton cargo ships to pass underneath.
At present, there are about 60 bridges in operation across the
Yangtze River.
Yangzhou, known for its elegant ancient gardens and balmy
weather, was once a booming waterway hub along the Beijing-Hangzhou
Canal in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The new bridge
could help to make the city once again a transport center of
affluent Jiangsu Province.
Last year, the city built a railway station with a nonstop
luxury overnight train service to Beijing.
"Once the Runyang Bridge is completed there will be no obstacle
to traveling in any direction from the city, and we'll have the
chance to develop as much as Suzhou and Wuxi," said Li Jun, a
Yangzhou citizen.
The city's per capita gross domestic product was around US$2,000
last year, compared with more than US$5,000 in Suzhou, which is an
hour's drive west of Shanghai. The bridge will enable Yangzhou to
integrate more closely with the Shanghai economic rim.
Yangzhou will hold an international trade and tourism festival
from April 18 to May 18 to celebrate the opening of the bridge and
to stimulate business.
The city won the China Human Settlements and Environment Award
from the Ministry of Construction at the end of last year.
(China Daily April 12, 2005)