The Yongan Bridge, known to generations simply as the Dashiqiao—the Great Stone Bridge—does not command the landscape but rests within it, its gray stone a quiet promise of passage across a small river in Yuhong District. Though its name translates to "Eternal Peace," it was built in 1641, the sixth year of the Chongde era, a time of conquest and consolidation for the burgeoning Qing Dynasty. For the Qing emperors on their ceremonial eastward excursions, this structure of three stone arches was a vital link in the empire’s geography.

Built when the Qing ambition was still fresh and the dynasty's grip on power was not yet a century old, this bridge was more than a convenience; it was a ceremonial artery. Its form is one of robust elegance, stretching 37 meters in total length. Its substantial form is 14.5 meters wide at its outer edges, with a solid roadway 8.9 meters across, engineered for the passage of imperial processions. The bridge’s substance is matched by its artistry. Nineteen stone railings line its deck, their pillars capped not with uniform brutality, but with symbolic distinction. The stone pillars at the very ends of the bridge are crowned with guardian lions, one pair facing another in silent, stone vigilance. The balustrades themselves are a bestiary in stone, populated with deer, tigers, and butterflies, each creature a silent participant in the bridge’s enduring narrative.

The stone lions are but the most prominent characters in a larger carved story. The other pillars bloom into lotus leaf-shaped tops, a serene counterpoint to the animal energy. At the extremes, the bridge’s narrative is carved in serpentine form. On the north side, two dragons eternally probe forward with their heads, while on the south side, their twin companions are represented only by their exposed tails, a clever and playful design choice that implies the dragons have plunged through the stonework, their bodies submerged in the architecture, eternally propelling the structure forward. The drum-holding stones outside the end columns are a gallery of mythical and earthly beasts, from unicorns and rhinos to the humble sheep. This is not mere decoration; it is a worldview rendered in granite, a document of power where the imperial lion, the sacred lotus, and the powerful dragon coexist. It is a quiet, provincial-level cultural relic, a testament to the craftsmanship and strategic vision that paved the way for an empire's journeys.