Marco Polo BridgeⅢ

Lining the bridge are two rows of carved white marble balustrades topped by posts carved with figures of lions. The people of Beijing have a saying to the effect that "the lions of the Lugou Bridge are too numerous to count," which is explained by the fact that the lions are carved in a great variety of aspects and distributed unequally among the 280 white marble posts. A pair of vividly carved reclining stone elephants and a number of other animal figures guards each end of the bridge.

On July 7, 1937, the first shot of the War of Resistance Against Japan rang out beside the Lugou Bridge. But now all signs of the war have long since disappeared. As the sun sets, the furnaces of nearby Shijingshna Steel Works cast a red glow across the sky, lighting up the bridge in fiery splendor.