When we walk through the ancient streets of China, those timeless charms all tell the story of the prosperity of the past and the precipitation of the years. Every bluestone slab and every weathered door beam carry the memory of the city and tell the legend of history. This article will take you from south to north, visiting the representative historical streets of several cities in China, and experience the unique charm that carries the changes of a hundred years.
Let's start our tour in Guangzhou, in the south, in the pulse of this modern metropolis, there is an ancient cultural street - Beijing Road. It seems to be a corridor of time, with the unearthed ruins of the road surface of the Yuan Dynasty and the fragrant streets of Cantonese dim sum inherited by century-old shops. Walking on Beijing Road, on one side is the Lingnan building with white walls and black tiles, and on the other side is a dazzling array of shops, the two temperaments are intertwined here, making people feel the different traces of time.
Further north, we came to Taiping Old Street in Changsha, Hunan. If Beijing Road is the corridor of time, then Taiping Old Street is the epitome of **. The old street brings together all kinds of time-honored brands and traditional handicrafts, and the carved wooden windows and gray brick walls make people feel as if they have traveled back to that era of rolling red dust. Here, a cup of Pu'er and a piece of commentary all tell the story of the ancient city, and the century-old commercial civilization is closely related and inseparable from the life of the locals.
Heading north to the depths of the Central Plains, we met the Gulou Street in Kaifeng. It has a history of 1,000 years and was the center of commerce during the Song Dynasty. On both sides of the long street, when night falls, the shops with red lanterns are like watchmen guarding the memory of history. In Gulou Street, you can taste authentic fried soup, Hu spicy soup, and feel the unique charm of Central Plains cuisine.
Crossing the Yellow River in the north, passing through the Yanhuang land, we came to the South Street of Pingyao, Shanxi. It is one of the most well-preserved county towns of the Ming and Qing dynasties in China, and is known as"The cradle of a thousand-year-old county"。Stepping on the square stone slabs of South Street, the tall storefronts on the left and right, and the theater buildings with exquisite paintings, all highlight the rich history of Pingyao's once commercial prosperity. Along the way, you can hear the noise of merchants and the sound of horses' hooves in ancient times, and the footprints of history have been preserved here.
Following the footsteps of time, we came to the capital in the north - Nanluoguxiang in Beijing. As one of the few remnants of the Yuan Dynasty in Beijing, Nanluoguxiang carries the rich cultural heritage of the capital. The alleys echo with the calmness of the courtyard door when it closes, and the shortness of the parents in the hutongs, all of which represent the real picture of life in Beijing. Here, history and modernity meet, creativity and tradition coexist.
Through North China, we finally arrived at Harbin in the northeast. As the longest pedestrian street in the Far East, it has seen the city transform from a small village to a cosmopolitan city. In the old street, there are not only buildings with a very Russian style, but also a blend of northern and southern Chinese cuisine. The snow in winter, the coolness of summer, every season of the street is full of stories.
Walking through these ancient streets, we feel as if we have traveled back in time and feel the soul of the city and the pulse of history. These century-old streets are not just narrow alleys or bustling business districts, they represent a city's past, present and future. Whether it is the gentle and beautiful south or the rough and bold in the north, these old streets have witnessed too much in the long river of history. We should deeply cherish these symbols of urban memory and strive to protect them so that these timeless cultural heritages can be preserved. Through the tour of the old streets of the memory of 100 cities, we not only relived the process of China's urban development, but also had a deeper understanding of the rich history and culture of this land.