This week while listening to an episode of This American Life, my favorite podcast, and stumbled upon a story that was so great that I felt like I needed to share it on my own blog. The story is about a four mile long bridge in Naan-jing China, which is famous for how many people jump off to commit suicide. In 2003, a man named Mr. Chen Sah began spending all of his weekends on the bridge, trying to single handedly stop the jumpers. The story of this podcast is reported by Mike Paterniti who recalls his story of meeting Mr. Chen.
The story of Mr. Chen is nothing short of amazing and he shares these amazing stories on his own blog that is dedicated to sharing his experiences on the bridge. However, his blog doesn’t read as a first person account of a superhero that saves lives…instead it reads as a very sober and factual account of his life on the bridge.
While Mr. Chen’s blog is written in Chinese, you can read some of Mr. Chen’s blog posts (translated) about the bridge by clicking here. Paterniti has also written an article about Mr. Chen appears in GQ Magazine.
Mr. McClung
While the thought of the lives lost is devastating, for some reason my curiosity drove me to research the bridge. I found that:
The Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge is the first bridge to be built across the Yangtze River in Nanjing, China. It was completed in 1968 and is the first double-decker, double-track highway and railway bridge designed and constructed by the Chinese without outside engineering assistance.
After the withdrawal of Soviet experts following the Sino-Soviet Split, China was thought to be unable to build a bridge on such a scale by themselves, without outside support. The project was undertaken to prove that Chinese engineers were able to overcome this perceived lack of ability.
I find it ironic that these people, in their time weakness and despair, are jumping to their death from a bridge that was built show the ability and power of the Chinese.
Mr. Chen has taken on a huge task. Lives have been lost, but so many have been saved. I imagine many of the desperate individuals who come to The Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge are looking for reassurance that their life is worth while and find that in the rational words of Mr. Chen. I commend him.
Jillian LeRouge, Elementary Education Major
The University of South Alabama
Dr. Strage’s Class, EDM 310
Wow! I’m really impressed by your research Jillian. The bridge is a very interesting and complex situation….if you enjoyed hearing the story about the bridge then I would highly recommend you listen to This American Life podcast, high quality stuff and very interesting.