Between Shanxi and Shaanxi, the most important geographical indication is the Yellow River, which is both our mother river and the dividing line between Qin and Jin. The Yellow River is not only a natural danger, but also a symbol of the goodness of Qin and Jin.
At the junction of Shanxi and Shaanxi, there are many cities overlooking the Yellow River, of which I was most impressed by Hejin and Hancheng, last year when we walked the Yellow River, we were here, this time, we came here deliberately, in order to revisit the same place.
When it comes to Hejin and Hancheng, it is inevitable to bypass one of the most important psychological landmarks of the Chinese nation, the Dragon Gate. What is the Dragon Gate? It is the place where the carp in the world love to go, and they can transform the dragon in one leap. The vision of "Jackie Chan" has also become the aspiration of generations of literati to go to the imperial examination, hoping to win in one fell swoop and serve the family and the world. The Dragon Gate can be regarded as the spiritual pillar of the ancient readers. To this day, carp leaping dragon gate is still a good wish of people, which is also an integral part of Chinese culture.
When you come to Longmen, you have to mention another name of Longmen, "Yumen", where the legend of Dayu leading the people to open mountains and split stones and channel the Yellow River is widely spread, where to the north is the natural wonders of the Jinshan Grand Canyon, and to the south is the rich land where the two plains meet in the Guanzhong and Fenhe areas. The narrowest part of the Yellow River is also here, and the goodness of Qin and Jin at such a close distance naturally reflects it vividly.
Longmen is the narrowest place of the Yellow River, the Yellow River from the narrow Jinshan Grand Canyon rushing, to the Dragon Gate poured out, as if the nerves have been bound for a long time, get a sudden relaxation, here we can not only see the Yellow River in various states, the confluence of plains and canyons can also be seen.
Because it is narrow, so in the early days, this is an important ferry, Li Shimin from Taiyuan to Xi'an is from here, and then there is a cable bridge on the Yellow River, from the early years of the ferry to the chain bridge, from the Longmen Yellow River Bridge to the Yumen Yellow River Bridge, witnessed the people on both sides of the strait, but also witnessed the rapid development of bridge technology in the motherland.
We came here last year, the Yellow River Bridge at Yumen Gate has not yet been opened to traffic, and this year we come here again, and this bridge spanning the Yellow River Dragon Gate has already been full of traffic.
Yumen Gate Yellow River Bridge is a three-span double-tower double-cable-stayed bridge, which started construction on November 3, 2015 and was completed and opened to traffic on September 11, 2020. The total length of the route is 4.45 kilometers, it is located at the exit of the Jinshan Grand Canyon, there are many difficulties to be faced in the construction of the bridge, the Yellow River is prone to flooding in this section of winter, and it is easy to flood in summer, so the construction difficulty is very large, and the bridge is also located in three span areas, that is, across the two provinces of Jin and Shaanxi, across the banks of the Yellow River, across two railway lines, the technical requirements are extremely high, so this bridge has also created several of the most, is the largest span in the northwest region, the highest technical content, the most complex structure of a cable-stayed bridge.
As the sun sets, in the afterglow of the setting sun, the bridge is like two huge hands holding together, connecting the two banks, the Yellow River flows out from the narrowest place, the wide river surface of the earth yellow color highlights its majesty, and the bridge spans the Yellow River, which looks particularly spectacular.
The completion of this bridge has extraordinary significance, it ends the history of large transport vehicles in the Yumen section for 6 years, alleviates the problem of traffic congestion on both sides of the Yellow River, not only facilitates transportation, but also makes the two provinces of Jin and Shaanxi more close, and promotes tourism and economic development on both sides of the Yellow River.