‘Protected’ Ming dynasty royal bridge disappears in Shanghai

A 440-year-old bridge in Shanghai has disappeared, local media reported.

The royal bridge, which was built during the Ming Dynasty in 1575, disappeared recently for unknown reasons, according to Thepaper.com.

According to local authorities in Pudong, the bridge, which the Qing dynasty emperor Qianlong (1736-1799) once walked, was declared a protected cultural relic in 2008.

A man surnamed Hong, who was born in the area in the 1950s, remembered the bridge fondly – it was surrounded by white walls and gray tiles, and was the way across a local salt pound. But now, Hong said, the area is barely recognisable.

Wu Jiang, vice-president of Tongji University in Shanghai, said that if the bridge was listed as a protected cultural relic, then under the law it could not be removed.

“But the law is not perfect, and a lot of places are secretly dismantled” Wu said.