| Baitashan (White Pagoda Hill) Park |
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Rising 1,700 meters above sea level and covering an area of three
million square meters. Baitashan was turned into a park in 1958.
The hill took its name from the white pagoda in Baitasi (White
Pagoda Temple) on its summit. The pagoda was built to commemorate
a Tibetan lama of the Sa-skya-pa Sect of Tibetan Buddhism who died
in Lanzhou on his way to Mongolia for an audience with Genghis Khan.
Towering 17 meters, the pagoda is a solid brick structure.
Baitasi boasted three treasures-a drum made of elephant skin, a
bronze bell, and a shiny-leafed yellow horn. The tree was planted
by Yunxuan, abbot of Ci'ensi (Temple of Grace) but died for lack
of water long ago. The other two treasures are still extant.
Popularly known as the Zhongshan Iron Bridge or the Yellow River
Iron Bridge, it is located at the foot of Baitashan Hill and the
middle section of Binhe Road in Lanzhou. It is the oldest bridge
in Lanzhou and the first bridge ever built across the Yellow River.
The bridge is 233.33 meters long and 7.5 meters wide. It is a five-arch
bridge resting on five piers.
Formerly, there was no bridge on the Yellow River. At the suggestion
of Peng Yingjia, magistrate of Lanzhou Circuit, Shengyun, governor
of Gansu, decided to build an iron bridge over the Yellow River
with public fund. The project was contracted to a German firm. Construction
began in February 1907 and was completed in June 1910.
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