Hefei, Anhui: "The tallest building" in the 1970s - Traffic Hotel

Author: Cheng Tangyi In the 1970s, the 10-story Traffic Hotel located near Hefei Bus Station became the tallest building in Hefei. Of course, in addition to being high, what it left in the memory of a generation is that there is no "threshold" that restricts status, and ordinary people can enter and stay. When it comes to transportation hotels built on a large pond, it is a bit older. Everyone in Hefei should know it. It is located in the middle of Shengli Road in today's Yaohai District, adjacent to Chuzhou Road in the east and Yaowan Road in the west. According to archives, the Traffic Hotel was opened on October 1, 1976, covering an area of ??16,500 square meters. square meters, with a construction area of ??11,000 square meters; it had more than 200 employees at that time. It mainly operated hotels and also operated snacks. It was affiliated to the Provincial Department of Transportation Automobile Transport Administration. In the 1970s, when material life was still scarce, it was located in Dadongmen, Hefei. There is such a ten-story building in the "Golden Triangle" area outside. Not to mention the tallest building in Hefei at that time, it was also a "landmark building" in the minds of Hefei people at that time. ○Aerial photography of Chuzhou Road and Shengli Road in Hefei City The top ten-story building is the Traffic Hotel (photo taken in 1978). But did you know that this landmark building in Hefei in the 1970s was built on a large pond. For this, the late " " "Old Hefei" Niu Yun has a deep memory. He once wrote an article about this matter during his lifetime. According to Mr. Niu's memory in the article, he has been working in the Hefei Federation of Trade Unions since he started working. In 1961, he was arranged by the Federation of Trade Unions to work at the Gongjiao Farm. His task was to lead the workers to raise pigs, because the Gongjiao Farm was also near Dadongmen. Once he accidentally discovered a large pond with a lot of duckweeds on the water. This made Mr. Niu very happy. In the 1960s, this duckweed was the best food for pigs. He took a worker down to the pond to fish for duckweed, and then transported it back to the farm on a cart. For the convenience of fishing, they picked the two largest and longest ones. At first, I carried the bamboo pole back after fishing for duckweeds, but after a few times it became too troublesome, so I simply threw the long bamboo pole in the pond once, twice... and it was still there several times. Then one day I found the bamboo pole. It was taken away and could not be found. " "Because during that time, I fished for duckweed almost every day, and after fishing, I usually went to the pond to swim. So I have a deep memory of that big pond. " Mr. Niu once said. ○ Anhui Provincial Planning Commission's relevant notice on the construction of the Transportation Hotel. But what Mr. Niu did not expect was that more than ten years later, the tallest building in Hefei City at that time was built on this pond. Transportation Hotel When the hotel was completed, Mr. Niu went to see it and was very happy. Soon after, a newspaper asked Mr. Niu to write an article. He wrote an article "Hefei - An Ancient and Young City" to introduce the history and development of Hefei. Culture, transportation, etc., specifically mentioned the tallest building in Hefei - the "Ten-story Building" in the mouths of old Hefei people. In fact, in the mouths of many old Hefei people, the "Ten-story Building" is also commonly known as the "Ten-story Building". "Ten-story building". This common name is even more widespread than the name of the Traffic Hotel. As for why there is this common name, perhaps it is because in the minds of many old Hefei people, the simple, direct and most representative name of ""ten-story building"" The name is more friendly than ""Transportation Hotel". An interesting thing once happened. The Transportation Hotel was the location of the long-distance bus station in the 1980s and 1990s, and there were many bus stations on Shengli Road, such as "Transportation Hotel" on Mingguang Road. "Hefei Bus Station". Many people who come from out of town can't figure out where the long-distance bus station is. The locals will say that it is in the ten-story building. Sometimes outsiders will be even more "fazzy" and don't know where to go. In the 1970s, the completion of a ten-story building was no small matter. In the era when reform and opening up had not yet started, the ten-story building already had It represents the height of Hefei and brought a lot of spiritual comfort to the people at that time. ○Aerial view of Hefei in the 1970s. According to the memories of many people nearby, many citizens and even outsiders came here when the building was built. Let’s take a look. At that time, there was no road leading from Shengli Road to the train station. There was only a small path in front of the Traffic Hotel, and many citizens were lucky enough to go up there and walk around. He was surrounded by people asking questions and refused to leave for more than ten minutes. The Hefei newspaper at the time described the shock it brought to Hefei citizens. After the completion of the Traffic Hotel. Soon, it "lived up to its name", combining transportation and accommodation.

Therefore, there is no time to stop here all year round. People waiting for buses, bus owners soliciting customers, the sounds of hawkers, and the anxiety of pedestrians... have become the scenery in front of the Traffic Hotel. Vehicles from all over the world gather here, and tourists from all over the world gather here. There are no status restrictions for check-in. In the 1970s, Hefei already had several hotels that provided catering and accommodation, but they seemed to have "thresholds" that ordinary people could not enter. For example, Daoxiang Building at that time had to Only cadres at the county level can stay, and the Jianghuai Hotel only serves officials or overseas Chinese. Only the Transportation Hotel and the Yangtze River Hotel are not subject to any status restrictions. This was also special at the time when the Transportation Hotel was first built. It only provided meals and accommodation, and it was considered one of the high-end hotels in Hefei. At that time, it was a hotel downstairs and accommodation upstairs. Ordinary citizens could stay in the hotel with a letter of introduction and payment. No one stopped you, and there were no security guards to ask you like they do now. People who stayed or visited the Transportation Hotel were more interested in the elevator installed in the hotel, which made many people feel strange. According to the memories of the old people, the Transportation Hotel. It is equipped with an old-fashioned box elevator, but it is not the earliest elevator in Hefei. Many people go in just to take the elevator. The elevator is full of people, and they are constantly climbing up and down. ○Transportation Hotel. Photo taken in 2015) According to archives, this ten-story building was famous not only in Hefei, but also in the whole province. For many registered drivers in the province, they came to Hefei and stayed in the Transportation Hotel. For the unit, when receiving visiting guests, the general procedure is to accompany them to visit Xiaoyaojin, then visit Daoxiang Tower, and finally visit the Transportation Hotel. With the rapid development of Hefei in recent years, the height of the city has continued to rise. 40 years ago, standing on the roof of the Traffic Hotel, there was still a vast area in front of us. But now, this relatively old " " ten-story building. ”, has long been submerged in the tall buildings that have sprung up like mushrooms. ○ Transportation Hotel (data and photos) It is only the long-distance buses that go to various parts of the province from here, but also makes people remember its "" transportation" function. And walk Entering the Jiaotong Hotel building, although there is a long-distance bus station, the main service desk of the Jiaotong Hotel, the relevant offices of the Anhui Transportation Group Auto Transport Company, and some guest rooms, it obviously feels like there are a lot less people, no matter what it is. How glorious it is, it can no longer be compared with the five-star hotels around it, and no one will use the word "tall" to describe this building anymore. However, the memory it leaves to people is still shocking and powerful. What is indelible is still the irreplaceable "collective memory" of Hefei people. Author: Cheng Tangyi (Archives Guanzhi) Operator: Shu Wenjie Editor: Shu Wenjie Production: Ding Zongrong Media Studio