The Ampera Bridge is the city's defining landmark: a long red-painted vertical-lift bridge that arches across the Musi River, linking the northern (Ilir) and southern (Ulu) halves of Palembang. It was completed in 1965 with Japanese war-reparation funds and was the largest bridge in Southeast Asia at the time.
By day it is a riot of motorbikes and trucks; by night, lit in shifting colours, it is the social heart of the city. The lawns at the north end, around Benteng Kuto Besak, fill with families, vendors selling pempek and grilled corn, and small electric riverboats offering thirty-minute cruises that pass directly under the bridge. The best view is from a boat at dusk.