Fuhong Bridge

Fuhong Bridge, located at the western mouth of the Back Lane, is a stone-beam bridge of unique styles. The stone bar in the middle of the bridge is engraved with symmetrical patterns surrounding the three Chinese characters for Fuhong Bridge in the center. Local residents would call it Hong Bridge while nearly forgetting its real name. The bridge was built in the reign of Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty. It was rebuilt in the 49th year under Emperor Qianlong (1784). The bridge stretches 16.4 meters long, 2.1 meters wide, and 4.7 meters in span.

It is said that during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period (1851—1864), the peasant insurrectionary army rebelling against the rule of the Qing regime suffered defeat because of multiple factors. One troop of the insurrectionary army drifted about and settled down in Zhouzhuang.

Local landlords were terrified. On the one hand they collaborated with the Qing regime to spread rumors that the peasant troop was fiendish features, on the other hand they also waited for their chances to crack down the rebels. One day, Huang Tongling, a major landlord, whipped together armed forces of the landlords and cruelly killed hundreds of soldiers of the insurrectionary army at the Fuhong Bridge. The blood of the soldiers reddened the stone stairs of the bridge and the green jade Hougang River.

Since red shares a partial tone with the hong in Fuhong Bridge, people began to call Fuhong Bridge as Hong (Red) Bridge in memory of the sacrificed insurrectionary army soldiers. The name of Hong Bridge remains going round over a century to these days.