A 252-meter-long covered bridge at the Zhijiang county in central China's Hunan Province was recently listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for its length.
The Guinness record was recently confirmed by the Shanghai Office of the Guinness Book of World Records.
The wooden pedestrian bridge is a symbol structure of the Dong ethnic group. It was first built in 1591 and rebuilt in 1777. The latest renovation was completed in 1999.
The exquisite bridge, named Longjin Covered Bridge, is 12.2 meters wide and 15 meters high. Its length is 185 meters longer than the Chengyang Bridge in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which was previously considered China's longest covered bridge.
The body of the bridge consists of seven pavilions and 43 corridors. All wooden structures on the bridge were connected with mortise and tenon joints without a nail.
More than 100 booths have been put up along the bridge, forming an indoor market, which attracts large crowds of visitors each day.
(People's Daily 02/10/2001)
