Chongqing - The Chongqing Baijusi Yangtze River Bridge tower has recently become popular on short video and social platforms because its shape resembles the spaceship in the movie Interstellar.

The two towers of the Baijusi Yangtze River Bridge look like two drops of water blending into the Yangtze River from a distance. (Photo/Zhang Kunkun)

The bridge is about 3.6 kilometers long, connecting the Dadukou and Banan districts. The main bridge is currently the world's largest span dual-layer steel truss cable-stayed bridge. The upper layer is a two-way, 8-lane urban expressway, and the lower layer is Chongqing's Rail Transit Line 18, a cross-river carrier.

Generally, the towers of cable-stayed bridges include diamond type, H type, A type, and portal type. The two towers of the Baijusi Yangtze River Bridge look like two drops of water blending into the Yangtze River from a distance, with the bridge passing through the middle of the drops, spanning the Yangtze River.

The first netizen who posted a viral video of the Baijusi Bridge Tower, @ Fox8816, lives in Ba'nan District. She witnessed the entire construction process of the bridge. On the first day of this year's New Year's Day holiday, she, who loves photography, took her family to the riverside. 

"Slowly walking towards the river, the bottom of the huge bridge tower and the 'tiny people' on the river beach formed a strong contrast. I used my mobile phone to record the scene and posted it on TikTok. It has been played more than 1.3 million times, " she said.

Chongqing city photographer Zhang Kunkun has also photographed the Baijusi Yangtze River Bridge many times. "The river recedes during the dry season, and the river beach has become a good place for citizens to visit. When you walk under the huge bridge tower, the round hole at the bottom of the tower looks like a door of time and space in the sunset. The people and the huge bridge tower are in sharp contrast, and the light and shadow look like a scene from a science fiction movie."

The people and the huge bridge tower are in sharp contrast, and the light and shadow look like a scene from a science fiction movie. (Photo/Zhang Kunkun)

Wu Qing, designer of the Bridge Division of T. Y. Lin International China, said that when the design team designed the bridge, they integrated Chongqing's regional culture of "born by water, prospered by water, and beautiful by water." After fully understanding the culture, the bridge tower was designed in the shape of a "water drop." Through innovative architectural aesthetics, it displays and interprets the unique charm of Chongqing's bridge capital and adds a new landscape.

The circular design at the bottom of the bridge tower has a special purpose. Wu Qing explained that the transparent, round shape at the bottom of the bridge tower is mainly to ensure the transparency of the sides of the bridge tower so that people can see the scenery and urban buildings on both sides of the bridge through the bottom of the bridge tower, just like passing through "Eye of Time" records the development of Chongqing.

The Baijusi Yangtze River Bridge at night time. (Photo/Zhang Kunkun)

In Chongqing's urban images, "bridges" are very important. Statistics show that there are currently more than 10,000 bridges in Chongqing and more than 30 cross-river bridges in the central city.  In 2005, Mao Yisheng Bridge Committee recognized Chongqing as the "Bridge Capital of China."

(Cheng Jialu, as an intern, also contributed to the report)