A Chinese man who built a pontoon bridge for an isolated village using his own money was fined multiple times and ultimately given prison time for the unauthorized structure.
Before 2005, Zhenlin Village, in Northern China’s Jilin Province, was completely cut off by the Taoer River, with locals having to travel around 70 kilometers to the nearest bridge. However, everything changed when a villager by the name of Huang Deyi, who had previously operated a small ferry to and from the village, decided to do what the regional authorities wouldn’t – build a small bridge across the river. The rudimentary pontoon bridge was welcomed by the community, and people were more than happy to pay a small toll to Huang for using it, as it was much cheaper and less time consuming than driving 70 km to the nearest authorized bridge. Business was good, and in 2014, Huang Deyo along with 17 other villagers improved the bridge by welding together 13 metal boats so it could support heavier vehicles, but four years later, the Taonan Water Affairs Authority came knocking, ordering the dismantling of the bridge and accusing Huang and his family of illegally profiting from it.
Simply removing the bridge didn’t get Huang off the hook, as in 2019 he was detained along with multiple family members and charged with several crimes, including collecting a total of 44,000 yuan ($6,200) from vehicles crossing his bridge between 2014 and 2018. Subsequent investigations revealed that Huang had charged vehicles over 52,000 yuan ($7,300) since 2005, and he was originally sentenced to 2 years in prison and another 2 years of probation.
Huang Deyi appealed the court sentence, admitting that his bridge hadn’t been approved by local authorities, but arguing that he only did it to help the local community. Regarding the toll collection, he claimed that his so-called profits had been inflated by prosecutors, considering that the two bridges he built over the Taoer River cost him over 130,000 yuan ($18,300).
The entrepreneur’s first appeal was rejected by the court in 2021, but he filed a new one to the higher Baicheng Intermediate People’s Court in June 2023. The case is currently under review, but his story recently sparked a heated debate on Chinese social media, with some claiming that he and his family had it coming for charging people a toll for using an illegally built floating bridge, and other saying that he only did a service for his community, taking actions when the regional authorities would not.
“There would be no room for Huang’s family to make aprofit if there was already a bridge there,” one Weibo user commented, while others pointed out that locals were happy to pay the bridge toll, because is was cheaper and faster than traveling to the nearest authorized bridge. On the other hand, others questioned the safety of the bridge, asking who would have taken responsibility in case of an accident.
Following the controversy with Huang Deyi’s bridge, authorities promised to build a bridge over the Taoer River closer to Zhenlin Village, but they have yet to fulfill their promise.
