Ancient stone bridge revealed after Chinese lake dries up

Described as the Chinese Bermuda Triangle, Poyang Lake is shrinking. Recently exposed remains of a 2,930-metre-long granite bridge date back nearly 400 years to the Ming dynasty. The lake has also been described as the "Chinese Bermuda Triangle". Supposedly, many ships have disappeared while sailing in it.

A stone bridge dating back to the Ming dynasty has been discovered after water levels plunged at China's largest freshwater lake, a Beijing newspaper reported Friday.

The remains of the 2,930-metre-long bridge, made entirely of granite and dating back nearly 400 years, appeared at Poyang lake in the central province of Jiangxi, the Beijing News reported. The lake, which has been as large as 4,500 square kilometres in the past, has been drying up in recent years due to a combination of low rainfall and the impact of the Three Gorges Dam, experts say.

reply to post by soficrow


That is awesome, thank you so much for sharing. One of my favorite things is submerged artifacts forgotten in time reemerging to show itself. Would love to check this stuff out first hand.

I wonder what else lies forgotten at the bottom of our lakes and oceans?

Auricom
reply to post by soficrow

 

That is awesome, thank you so much for sharing. One of my favorite things is submerged artifacts forgotten in time reemerging to show itself. Would love to check this stuff out first hand.

I wonder what else lies forgotten at the bottom of our lakes and oceans?

I dropped Destro and Snakeyes into a lake accidentally many moons ago. It was a very emotionally trying time for me as you could imagine.

One of my favorite things would be to watch my submerged G.I. joes reemerge and show themselves also.

That said, what I would really love is to cruise the bottom of the worlds oceans in a Ferrari type submarine for the remainder of my life.

reply to post by Auricom


Thanks. I'd like to check this stuff out firsthand too! ...Seems to me there should be more stuff exposed in Poyang - ships at least. But where are the reports?

so does this show that the lake was at a lower level in the past and that people shouldn't panic that it is shrinking or did the bridge collapse or sink?

reply to post by soficrow


pretty neat to see something like that. just wait for atlantis!!

www.ibtimes.co.uk...

When I was growing up in Tennessee, I knew an old indian of the Cherokee tribe, his grandfather told him of a legend that always got him in hot water whenever he spoke of it. Basically it was an old legend of a powerful strange looking people who flew shiny metal and light "bowls" they needed some place to store enormous ammounts of water and they decided on this planet, there was already water here but not 75% of the earth. They stocked the water here and flooded all low lands after a time many things were covered over including cities and tribe settlements causing many troubles. He said this legend has been carried for many generations and few ever speak of it and that one day they will return for their water which will reveal many secrets of the past that were hidden. The great flood, Atlantis, lots of possibilities, but this was uncovered by man's doing, therefore not directly related, but an effect that has the same result. crazy, but we do not know our past, barely understand the present, and have no clue of the future, but we do live in interesting times and I would love to see quality pics of this bridge when completely cleaned and speced, and bet there is much more to come...

Thanks for the post!
As a retired archaeologist, I'm fascinated. Now, gotta get in touch with some of my former students to see if any of them are heading to China to investigate. Wouldn't that be a trip?!!

reply to post by LadyTrick

According to Wikipedia, Poyang Lake didn't really come into being until around 400 A.D., when the Yangtze River changed to a more southerly course, causing the Gan River to back up...causing mass migration/s out of the area.
Looking at the Lake on Google Earth, it is obvious that the area was civilized prior to being covered with water.

As a retired archaeologist, I'm fascinated. Now, gotta get in touch with some of my former students to see if any of them are heading to China to investigate. Wouldn't that be a trip?!!

Why dont you apply to the Chinese government to go to have a look around. You never know what they will agree to and it would be the chance of a lifetime. They can only say yes or no and they will never, ever say 'yes' if you dont ask.

You may need to plan it and put forward a good proposal to persuade them, however I am sure they recognise the value of international recognition of interesting sites. You could write reports and newspaper articles to get more coverage.

LadyTrick
so does this show that the lake was at a lower level in the past and that people shouldn't panic that it is shrinking or did the bridge collapse or sink?

From the source article: "The Three Gorges dam project has also caused an increased outflow of water from both Poyang and Dongting, another lake in neighbouring Hunan province." So between the dam project and the recent drought, Poyang lake shrunk to less than 1,500 square kilometres, "threatening the plankton, fish and other organisms that inhabit it and the livelihoods of the nearly 70 percent of local residents who make a living by fishing." Should people panic when their livelihoods are threatened? Dunno. But the bridge is kinda cool. I'd also like to know what else has been hiding under the water.

qmantoo

As a retired archaeologist, I'm fascinated. Now, gotta get in touch with some of my former students to see if any of them are heading to China to investigate. Wouldn't that be a trip?!!

Why dont you apply to the Chinese government to go to have a look around. You never know what they will agree to and it would be the chance of a lifetime. They can only say yes or no and they will never, ever say 'yes' if you dont ask.

You may need to plan it and put forward a good proposal to persuade them, however I am sure they recognise the value of international recognition of interesting sites. You could write reports and newspaper articles to get more coverage.

I think it would be a great adventure and a wonderful learning experience. But as I mentioned, I'm retired. I don't have to write any grant proposals, read them, sign off on them---all my work these days is volunteer work in salvage cases. Family circumstances wouldn't permit me to be away for extended periods of time.
I do have some friends in Hunan. They attempted, many years ago, to teach me the Chinese language, written and spoken. Sadly, in the midst of this learning experience, Tienanmen Square happened. They were ordered home and their university didn't renew the exchange program with our university until a couple of years ago.
I can't honestly say that I've ever paid more than passing attention to ancient Chinese cultures. My area of interest was the Middle Mississippi Valley cultures.
However, in more than 20 years of teaching college kids to dig in the dirt properly, I've acquired quite a lot of contacts in other areas of study and I'll just bet "somebody knows somebody" who will write that grant.

reply to post by diggindirt


I'd love the opportunity to learn how to dig in the dirt correctly. Always been a secret dream of mine.

Lipton
reply to post by diggindirt

 

I'd love the opportunity to learn how to dig in the dirt correctly. Always been a secret dream of mine.

There are a lot of opportunities out there. Programs vary but there are a lot of volunteer opportunities in archaeology programs where you trade labor for learning.
I was a crew chief for 20 years and worked with literally thousands of volunteers, aged 7 up to 73 years. They were all chasing a dream and it was awesome to see them living that dream.
Follow your dream.

reply to post by soficrow


When I see the word 'Ancient' in a title of a Thread, I am expecting to see something from before BC... something extraordinary for its time but nevertheless, still something to see I guess.

reply to post by TruthxIsxInxThexMist


Ah yes, me too. I used the headline asis, but was definitely disappointed when I read the bridge was only 400 years old. Interesting though that that's when Poyang lake first appeared, when the Yangtze changed course - seems the bridge was needed to help keep people connected. Also, the bridge does not look very 'tall' in the pic, so I'm wondering about the lake's depth too.