Bridge of dreams brings two halves together

It's so close, and yet it always seemed so far away. To get to the rural district just a few hundred meters away on the other side of the bay, locals used to have to jump on a boat or drive about 160 kilometers - part of that journey on dusty, unsealed road.

Now anyone wanting to get from downtown Maputo, capital of Mozambique, to Katembe, or vice versa, can do so with ease, and in a matter of minutes, thanks to the longest twin-tower suspension bridge in Africa, that hangs over Maputo Bay.

"Mozambique had long planned to build a bridge linking the north and south of the bay, but nothing came of them because of a lack of financing and technological difficulties," said Wang Lijun, vice-president of China Road and Bridge Corporation, which built the bridge.