"Over this river there is a very fine stone bridge, so fine indeed, that it has very few equals in the world." — The Diary of Marco Polo

The Lugou Bridge (lú gōu qiáo 卢沟桥) also known as the Marco Polo Bridge, is a famous stone bridge located 15 km outside of Beijing across the Yongding river (yǒngdìng hé 永定河)—a main tributary of Hai River (hǒi hé 海河). (However, in recent years, the water of Yongding river is diverted to Beijing so there is no water under Lugou bridge.) Situated 15km (9.32 miles) southwest of Tiananmen, the Lugou Bridge is well-known because it was highly praised by the Venetian traveler Marco Polo during his visit to China in the 13th century (the bridge was later known in Europe simply as the Marco Polo Bridge), and for the Marco Polo Bridge incident, which marked the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945).