Yinding Bridge (银锭桥)

It is said that in the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, the emperor made a tour in plain clothes and came across obstruction caused by the river. A minister Heshen immediately ordered to fetch silver ingots from the palace and pave a road over the river for the emperor. Therefore, it was called Yinding Bridge since “Yinding” means sycee, a type of ancient Chinese money.

There is another story saying that the bridge looked like an upside-down ingot in early times, lying between Qianhai and Houhai. That’s the second version of why the bridge is named Yinding Bridge. Now the original bridge has been destroyed. The bridge body was lengthened and bridge deck widened when it was rebuilt. Although the new bridge does not look like an ingot, it is still elegant and beautiful.
There are three green regular scripts reading “Yin Ding Qiao” engraved on the white bridge. The three characters were written by Shan Shiyuan, a famous Chinese historian.

Standing on the Yinding Bridge, visitors can enjoy a panorama of beautiful landscape of Xishan Forest Park, forming an iconic scene of “Mountain Viewing on Yinding Bridge”. In the Local History and Geographic Evolution of Capital Chang’an in the Ming Dynasty, Shichahai is described as the top one wonderful scenic spot in capital; and the famous book Dijing Jingwulue, or Description of the Scenery of the Imperial Capital in the Ming Dynasty also admires the landscape of Shichahai as it enjoys exceptional advantage of unique view that matches springs of West Lake, summers of Qinghuai River, and autumns of Dongting Lake.