|
Yangtze
River Bridge
 The
Yangtze River Bridge is a source of great
pride for the Communists because of the
history of its construction. The Russians
had initially designed the Yangtze River
Bridge in the late 1950s. However, in 1960,
the honeymoon between China and the Soviet
Union ended due to ideological differences.
The Russians left in a huff, taking the
blueprints for many Chinese projects with
them.
The Yangtze River Bridge plans
were among those taken back to Moscow, but
the Chinese managed to design and build
the double-decker bridge on their own. Today,
the bridge remains an important symbol of
Chinese self-reliance and until the late
1970s, the story of its construction was
often told in primary school textbooks.
The bridge is one of the longest
in China, with a 4500 meter-long road on
top and a 6700 meter-long railway line below.
A stone statue at the entrance to the bridge
captures the Communist Party of the 60s:
workers, peasants, soldiers, cadres and
students, stand together, united. They lean
forward into the glorious future with sickles,
hammers, bayonets, flags, and Chairman Mao's
Little Red Book. Each of the three red flags
proclaim a communist slogan of the time:
tow the General Line, take the Great Leap
Forward and join the People's Commune.
|
