In 1544, the Ming dynasty prefect Zhu Guan supervised the construction of a single-span stone arch bridge outside the south gate of Zhoucheng Town. Spanning the cold waters of the Zhongliang Stream, this structure became known as the Nanxun Bridge, or Nanjin Bridge. Scholar Li Yuanyang recorded that its name evoked the ancient Song of the South Wind, a melody of ruler-led prosperity.

The bridge measures 15.6 meters long and 5.16 meters wide. Its foundation consists of heavy local strip stones, supporting a timber-and-tile superstructure. Travelers crossing the bridge walk past ceremonial timber archway gates at the northern and southern entrances. Inside, they find a single-room, square pavilion with a hip-and-gable roof, flanked by wooden benches and balustrades under swooping, upturned eaves. Three stone steles from an 1897 reconstruction led by prefect Li Yuanxi stand inside the gates, their carved surfaces cool to the touch. Overhead hangs a red wooden plaque with gold lettering, brushed by the eighty-eight-year-old hand of local PLA Lieutenant General Zhao Rong.

On April 20, 1936, the quiet of the wind-and-rain gallery shattered. The Red Second and Sixth Army Groups, commanded by He Long, Ren Bishi, Xiao Ke, and Wang Zhen, reached Zhoucheng. When negotiators stepped onto the wooden planks to seek peaceful passage, local defensive militias opened fire, killing them. The ensuing battle transformed the elegant lounge bridge. Soldiers pressed their backs against the thick timber supports and stone foundations, using the structure as a tactical shield. Inside the pavilion, medics bandaged wounds amid the smell of gunpowder and the rush of the river below.

Today, the bridge stands quiet again. Visitors can run their fingers over the weathered strip stones and sit on the wooden benches where soldiers once bled. The wind still blows through the open pavilion, carrying the memory of a Ming dynasty dream of peace and the sharp reality of twentieth-century warfare.