All Stories published by A Better Guide to Beijing on December 15, 2016

Marco Polo Bridge 卢沟桥

丰台区西五环
Part of A Better Guide to Běijīng
’s coverage of Běijīng Suburbs and Beyond

Lúgōu Qiáo means ‘Reed Ditch Bridge’, but it gained its English name through being mentioned by Marco Polo in his Travels. It was originally built between…


Was Polo Here?

Part of A Better Guide to Běijīng

Polo’s description of the bridge is typical of most of his descriptions of China — as much wrong as right. He gives the number of arches as 24, not 11, and makes other mistakes in describing a bridge generally agreed to have survived largely…