This is a very beautiful ancient bridge that was built to collect toll on users of the river, believed to be the first of its kind in the world.Below is a photo of a diagram of the bridge.
Where London Bridge can open in the middle to allow ships that have a height greater than the middle span of the bridge, this Xiangzi Bridge did not have such technology then.
What it did was most ingenious, reflecting the innovativeness of the people of long ago.
The bridge is beautifully constructed with typical Chinese architecture but in the middle several small boats were chained together, forming a barrier that prevented any boat from going upstream or downstream.
The picture below shows the entrance to the Xiangzi Bridge.
A toll had to be paid before the boats were unchained and moved aside so that the boat could pass through. Once the boat had passed, these boats were chained together to form a barrier across the river once more.
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