Lions, lions, lions! Apart from its historical significance and its architectural cleverness, what sets the Lugou Bridge apart is its proliferations of lions - almost 500 of them sit on the span of the bridge, some big, other littler ones sitting on the backs or between the paws or even in the manes of the big lions.
The bridge became known in the West when Marco Polo talked it up in his writings, and hence it's often called the Marco Polo Bridge. It's also known for a battle that took place here in 1937 and marked the start of the Second Sino-Japanese war.
The bridge was built in the early 12th century from granite and marble, and is gracefully arched. Take a stroll across and try to count the lions - no one's ever been able to come to a definitive figure.
