Renovated Luzhou Museum again displays its treasures

The stone carving collection is renowned for exquisite Han Dynasty(206 BC-AD 220) and Song Dynasty (960-1279) sculptures.

Complementing exhibits like the Han and Song sculptures, the museum utilizes stunning photos and a video to showcase the magnificent Longnao Bridge in Luxian, a county under the administration of Luzhou.

Constructed between 1378 and 1398 during the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the 54-meter-long Longnao which literally means Dragon Head is 3 kilometers north of the Luxian county seat and has 11 pillars.

Both the east and west sides of the bridge are supported with three pillars each. The eight pillars in the middle bears works of huge carvings of different animals representing good luck like dragons, lions, elephants and kirins.

The four dragons have their heads up and captivate visitors with their vividly rendered eyes, ears, mouths, noses, eyebrows, scales as well as flowing cloud motifs.

Inside the mouth of each dragon is a bead weighing more than 50 kilograms.

As each dragon head and bead are carved from a single stone using the hollow-out technique, each bead can roll freely but cannot be taken out.Luo Zhewen (1924-2012), an esteemed scholar of ancient architecture, hailed it as the second finest bridge in China, placing it just behind Beijing's Lugou Bridge.