Why is Dong’s Wind and Rain Bridge the most distinctive folk architecture?

(Wind and Rain Bridge) is a very famous bridge among the Dong people. Popular in Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, Guangxi and other places. It consists of a bridge, a tower and a pavilion, all made of wood. The bridge deck is paved, with railings and benches on both sides, and the top of the bridge is covered with tiles to form a promenade. The tower and pavilion are built on stone piers and have multiple floors, with flying eaves and corners, and are decorated with treasure gourds and other decorations on the top. It is known as one of the ten most incredible bridges in the world. Because pedestrians passing by can avoid wind and rain, it is named Fengyu Bridge.

Fengyu Bridge is also called Huaqiao and Fuqiao, and it is called "Tingda" in Zhuang language. It is one of the "Three Treasures" of Dong ethnic architecture. It is a traffic custom of the Zhuang, Dong and Yao people. It is the development and extension of railing-style buildings. It is another national building that the Dong people are proud of.

Fengyu Bridge usually consists of bridge, tower and pavilion. It is built of wood and connected by chisels and tenons. The bridge deck is paved with railings and benches on both sides to form a promenade. Towers and pavilions are built on the stone piers, with multiple floors. Each floor has raised eaves and corners, painted with phoenixes and carved dragons. There are mascots such as treasure gourds and thousand-year cranes on the top.

The bridge is composed of huge stone piers, wooden bridge body, long profile and pavilions. Except for the stone piers, they are all made of wood. There is no need for nails or iron, and they are all connected with mortise and tenon. The bridge body is made of huge wooden beams.

Rising from the stone piers, a huge wooden structure is used to invert the trapezoidal bridge, and the arch bridge body is raised to balance the stress points, and the bridge deck veranda is like a long dragon. There are three to five three- or five-story bridge pavilions with four corners forming an octagonal shape on the verandah. The ends of the bridge's eaves and tile beams are sculpted with eaves in the shape of a red phoenix rising to the sun, a carp jumping on the beach, and a sitting lion holding a treasure.

The top of the main beam is decorated with two dragons grabbing treasures, and is decorated with colorful paintings. The long outline of the bridge serves as an aisle, with benches on both sides for pedestrians to rest. On the upper ends of the two long walls, wooden boards are used to carve various historical figures or draw colorful paintings of mythological stories.

The entire building does not require a single nail or rivet. It is all made of wood chiseled and tenoned, inserted horizontally and vertically. The roofs of the sheds are covered with hard and tight tiles, and all exposed wooden surfaces are coated with antiseptic tung oil. Therefore, these huge buildings, spanning the river and standing proudly in the sky, remain indestructible despite the wind and rain.