characteristically original. 

 Balustrades have sculp- 

 tured tigers, dogs, monk- 

 eys, and other apocryphal 

 animals, and the ap- 

 proaches and arches are 

 ornamented with guardian 

 lions and dragon-head gar- 

 goyles. 



The "camel-back" bridge, 

 which abounds from one 

 end of China to the other, 

 is not less graceful nor 

 less beautiful than the pa- 

 goda or p'ai-lou. Like the 

 pagoda, it is one of the 

 frequent objects that, as 

 a background in Chinese 

 scenes, served the occi- 

 dental artist and engraver 

 in conveying to the peo- 

 ples of western countries 

 the first impressions of 

 China. It is the "pole 

 vault" in bridges, spring- 

 ing from the banks of 

 narrow canals and giving 

 wide berth to the masts of 

 canal vessels. 



China has bridges and 

 remains of bridges with 

 an antiquity of 2,000 years 

 and more. Bridges still 

 in use saw their construc- 

 tion contemporaneous with 

 the oldest architectural re- 

 mains in China. The so- 

 called Marco Polo bridge, 

 12 miles from Peking, is 

 perhaps the best-known to 

 travelers. It has 11 arches 

 and was built in the elev- 

 enth century of our era. 



In connection with the 

 bridges ought to be men- 

 tioned, among China's 

 monuments, the Grand 

 Canal (see article on Ca- 

 nals of China, pages 931- 

 958, in this number), 

 which shares with but one 

 other great construction in China the dis- 

 tinction of being the best-known monu- 

 mental work of the Chinese. It was as 

 magnificent a scheme in its time as is the 

 Suez Canal, or the Panama Canal today. 

 It had its origin in the merging of minor 



; -..WW 



Photo by VV. Pci-cev 

 A TYPICAL PAGODA AT WU-HU IN ANIIUI 



Yetts 



Note the trees and shrubs growing on the pagoda. To Chi- 

 nese the pagodas begin to appear as landmarks of a stage of 

 civilization to be discarded. 



canals, and even today is still a grand 

 trunk line, affording inland communica- 

 tion with almost the whole water system 

 of China. 



What the Grand Canal means in the 

 life of the people and what it meant in 



