For 3 million years North and South America were connected by the isthmus that is today Panama. The construction of the canal ruptured geography as well as the flow of traffic for anyone living in the Canal Zone. In 1962, the graceful, mile-long, steel-truss arch appropriately named the Bridge of the Americas reunited the continents. Near the western end of the bridge, a pagoda with lion statues called the Chinese Monument celebrates the long history of the Chinese in Panama.
