The Waibaidu Bridge (), called the Garden Bridge in English, is the first all-steel bridge,"The Preservation and Renovation of Waibaidu Bridge,"WHITR-AP (Shanghai) NEWSLETTER 9 (March 2009):4.; http://whitr-ap.org/download/Newsletter%209.pdf and the only surviving example of a camelback truss bridge in China. The present bridge is the fourth Western-designed bridge built at its location since 1856, in the downstream of the estuary of the Suzhou Creek (formerly known as Wusong or Soochow Creek), near its confluence with the Huangpu River, adjacent to the Bund in central Shanghai. It connects the Huangpu and Hongkou districts and was opened on 20 January 1908. With its rich history and unique design the Waibaidu Bridge is one of the symbols of Shanghai.Hanchao Lu, Beyond the Neon Lights: Everyday Shanghai in the Early Twentieth Century (University of California Press, 2004):42. Its modern and industrial image may be regarded as the city's landmark bridge. On 15 February 1994, the Shanghai Municipal Government declared the bridge an example of Heritage Architecture, and one of the outstanding structures in Shanghai. In an ever-changing metropolis, the Waibaidu Bridge remains a popular attraction and one of the few constants in the city skyline.
Etymology
There is considerable debate about the exact meaning of Waibaidu (外白渡), the name given to the wooden bridge erected by the Shanghai Municipal Council in 1873. According to one source, "The upper stream of any river was called li (裡; internal, inside); the lower stream was called "wai".""The Shanghai Bund: A History through Visual Sources"; http://www.virtualshanghai.net/GetFile.php?Table=Article&ID=Article.ID.34.No.0&Op=S Xue Liyong (薛理勇), indicates in his book on the history of the Bund: In several instances, the Chinese used the terms li 裡 (internal) and wai 外 (external) to denote varying degrees of proximity of a location. An intermediate degree was indicated by zhong 中 (middle) for places situated between these two extremes. Several place names in Shanghai still reflect this practice. The Chinese name of the Garden Bridge – waibaidu qiao 外白渡橋 – is such a case. The name makes sense only in relation with another bridge called libaidu qiao 裡白渡橋 that was located further inside the Soochow Creek, whereas the Garden Bridge was located at the mouth of the creek where it merges into the Huangpu river.Xue Liyong 薛理勇, Waitan de lishi he jianzhu 外滩的历史和建筑 [History and construction of the Bund], (Shanghai, Shanghai shehui kexueyuan chubanshe, 2002):2; referenced in "The Shanghai Bund: A History through Visual Sources"; http://www.virtualshanghai.net/GetFile.php?Table=Article&ID=Article.ID.34.No.0&Op=S
Another source indicates that in Shanghainese, waibaidu means passing through the bridge without paying.Sino-Corrugated China 2007 Website Using (January 2007):1; http://www.sino-corrugated.com/09/Upload/20071101842577413.pdf Because there was no longer any toll collected to cross the bridge, it began to be called Waibaidu, but "whereas the old name meant 'foreigners/outer ferry crossing bridge' the character bai was changed to a homophonic that altered the meaning to 'outer free crossing bridge'".
History Before bridges were built over the Suzhou Creek (then known as the Wusong River), citizens had to use one of three ferry crossings: one near Zhapu Road, one at Jiangxi Road, and one near the mouth of the Suzhou River. These crossings (du in Chinese) were the only way to ford the river, until the construction of a sluice gate built in the Ming dynasty, later known as "Old Sluice", where the current Fujian Road bridge is located. During the Qing dynasty, another sluice bridge ("New Sluice") was constructed during the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor (1723–1735), near the location of today's Datong Road bridge."History of Bridges Crossing Over Suzhou Creek: Connecting the Past with the Future", 32;
With Shanghai becoming an international trade port through the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, and foreign powers being granted concessions in the city, traffic between both sides of Suzhou River soared in the 1850s, increasing the need for a bridge close to the mouth of the river.
Wills' Bridge (1856-1871) In October 1856, a British businessman named Charles Wills, of the firm of Jardine, Matheson, and American Edward Cunningham (1823–1889),Zhaojin Ji, A History of Modern Shanghai Banking: The Rise and Decline of China's Finance Capitalism (M.E. Sharpe, 2003):61. the "brilliant though somewhat impetuous" managing director of Russell & Co.,Kwang-Ching Liu, Anglo-American Steamship Rivalry in China, 1862-1874 (Harvard University Press, 1962):13. Vice-Consul for the United States (1853) and also consul of the Consul of Sweden and Norway in Shanghai,Shanghai Almanac (1856). Cunningham was instrumental in the founding of the Shanghai Steamship Company, and was its president (1862-1864). See Kwang-Ching Liu, 33. with the finances provided by a consortium of twenty investors, called the Soochow Creek Bridge Company,Francis Lister Hawks Pott, A Short History of Shanghai: Being an Account of the Growth and Development of the International Settlement (Kelly & Walsh, 1928):73. the first company in China focusing mainly on bridge construction, constructed the first foreign bridge across the Suzhou Creek,Edward Denison and Guang Yu Ren, Building Shanghai: The Story of China's Gateway (Wiley-Academy, 2006):112. at the location of the outermost ferry crossing to ease traffic between the British Settlement to the south, and the American Settlement to the north of Suzhou River.Denison & Guang, 112. Built to replace a Chinese bridge that had collapsed in 1855, and "that the Chinese were unable to reconstruct",Joshua A. Fogel, The Literature of Travel in the Japanese Rediscovery of China, 1862-1945 (Stanford University Press, 1996):52. this new bridge, which soon became known as Wills' Bridge, was made entirely of wood, and "had a total length of 137.16 metres (450 feet) and width of 7.01 metres (23 feet)". It had a "draw" on the Hongkou side to allow larger boats to enter or exit Suzou Creek. According to Francis Pott, it was "not a very sightly structure."
Wills brought capital into China and invested in infrastructure that benefited Chinese and foreigner alike. He invested $12,000 in the 450-foot span (complete with drawbridge), and naturally charged a crossing fee.North-China Herald (1 August 1857):2; Francis Lister Hawks Pott, A Short History of Shanghai: Being an Account of the Growth and Development of the International Settlement (Kelly & Walsh, 1928):73; see Wm Patrick Cranley, "Bridge of Misunderstanding: Shanghai's Waibaidu Qiao" (19 February 2008); http://shanghaiist.com/2008/02/19/bridge_of_misun.php According to Henriot, "The investment made was to be repaid by a fee charged on all vehicles and passers-by at a rate of 5 taels per year for a horse-cart and one tael for a pedestrian". "The bridge was open to anyone who could pay the small toll, a 'thing hateful to the Shanghai public.'"See proclamation of Shanghai magistrate Hwang, 16 July 1857, explaining necessity of Chinese paying the toll as it was foreign money not Chinese money that financed construction of the bridge. See North-China Herald (1 August 1857):2; Denison & Guang, 112. Both Chinese and foreigners paid this toll, but as with many goods and services in Shanghai, foreigners paid on credit – thus the impression on the part of many Chinese that foreigners passed free."Wm Patrick Cranley, "Bridge of Misunderstanding: Shanghai's Waibaidu Qiao" (19 February 2008); http://shanghaiist.com/2008/02/19/bridge_of_misun.php In 1863, when the British and American Settlements merged, the rate was doubled, causing serious protests by the Chinese population. The local population regarded Wills' toll policy as yet another of many restrictions for Chinese people by foreign powers. They responded with protest and boycotted the bridge, and Cantonese merchants opened new ferry services across Soochow Creek." Zhan Re, from Guangdong, established a free ferry near today's Shanxi Road intersection. One letter to the editor of the Shenbao newspaper in 1872, expressed outrage that the Chinese had to pay a toll to cross Wills' bridge while foreigners were exempted.Barbara Mittler, A Newspaper for China?: Power, Identity, and Change in Shanghai's News Media, 1872-1912 (Harvard University Asia Center, 2004):138. Another suggests that the owner of the bridge is certainly "one conversant with profit".Barbara Mittler, A Newspaper for China?: Power, Identity, and Change in Shanghai's News Media, 1872-1912 (Harvard University Asia Center, 2004):139. According to Barbara Mittler, "This turned out to be untrue, however: the Municipal Council was paying a yearly fee to Wills for foreign users."Mittler, 138. According to Pott, "The company made a great profit from the tolls collected from those using the bridge, and claimed it had received a charter from the Taotai (Chinese:道台 pinyin: daotai) giving it a right to this monopoly for 25 years. The public, however, protested, and denied the authority of the Taotai to grant any such charter."Pott; Wills soon became a wealthy person,Ling Pan, In Search of Old Shanghai, 2nd ed. (Joint Pub. Co., 1982):35. but died on 9 September 1857 at sea on board the P&O steamer Bengal.
By 1870, Wills' bridge was quite worn out. The Shanghai Municipal Council instructed the owners to repair it, but it was ignored. "In the end the Municipal Council stepped in, built another bridge a dozen paces from Mr Wills's, and allowed everyone to traverse it for free."Pan, 35.
The 2nd Wills' Bridge (1871-1873) With profits for the wooden bridge decreasing, the Soochow Creek Bridge Company decided to build a new bridge. According to Pott, "When the company attempted the erection of a new iron bridge in 1871, two poles gave way and the part of the bridge that had been completed sank into the river."Pott; .
Soochow Creek Bridge (Garden Bridge) (1873-1907)
The Shanghai Municipal Council resolved the situation by approving the construction of a new wooden floating bridge, several metres west of Wills' original wooden bridge, to be opened to the public in September 1873.Not a Monopolist, "The Soochow Creek Bridge", North-China Herald (7 June 1873):17 (507). The Soochow Creek Bridge was built by S.C. Farnham & Co. at a cost of 19,513 taels (exclusive of the stone abutments).Letter from Surveyor's Office (12 October 1889), North-China Herald (25 October 1889):25 (521). The new bridge was opened to traffic on 2 August 1873.
In October 1873, the Shanghai Municipal Council bought out the owners of the Wills' bridge and eliminated the toll. Thus should have ended the errant complaints of discrimination against locals. Indeed, complaints might have been aimed in the opposite direction. "Wills' bridge was destroyed, and a new bridge was constructed. It built a new bridge that was completed in August 1876. Its size was slightly bigger: 110.30 metres (385 feet) long and 12.19 metres (40 feet) wide, with walkways on each side (2.13 metres). The bridge has cost 12,900 taels. The second bridge remained in place until 1906."
Repairs (1881) The first extensive repairs to the bridge were made in 1881, with 4,012 taels spent on re-planking the roadway and footpaths.
Sometime after the Public Garden at the northern end of the Bund opened in 1886, and due to its proximity, the Waibaidu bridge was also called the "Garden Bridge" in English.