The History and Development of Beihai Old Street

Zhuhai Road in Beihai, Guangxi, with its long history and special architectural style, attracted the attention of Chinese and foreign experts and scholars from 1980s to 1990s. This road was built in the late 1920s. Its completion was related to the upgrading of Beihai organizational system at that time and experienced a tortuous process.

Before March of the 15th year of the Republic of China (1926), Beihai was under the jurisdiction of Jinghai District, Hepu County, Guangdong Province, and was set at the township level. In the same year, the Guangdong Provincial Government set up city preparatory offices in six township-level commercial ports directly under Guangdong Province, including Foshan, Chencun, Beihai and Meilong. Beihai was formally approved to set up the "Beihai Independent Municipal Preparatory Office" (hereinafter referred to as the Municipal Office) on March 1926, which consists of five branches, namely, general affairs, public security, education, health, finance and public works, and was separated from Hepu County.

In order to keep up with the development of the situation, the Urban Services Department decided to transform most of the main streets except Shaji Street, focusing on Houjie (formerly known as Zhongshan Road) and Dajie (formerly known as Zhuhai Road). From west to east, there are Daxi Street, Shengping Street, Dong 'an Street, Dongtai Street and Jielong Bridge. Among them, Dongtai Street and Donghua Street are "wealthy businessmen", so it is easier to raise funds to build streets. From June of 1927, the municipal office demolished and expanded these two streets as planned, which took one year to complete.

At that time, in Beihai, for various reasons, commerce once declined. The main reason is that Guangzhou Bay (now Zhanjiang City) is a French concession, and "there is no tax on the import of goods", which leads to the merchants who have always purchased goods in Anpu, Shicheng and Hudong in Beihai to purchase goods in Guangzhou Bay, which leads to the business in Beihai being deserted. To this end, Chen, a member of Guangdong Southern District Rehabilitation Committee, submitted a petition to the Guangdong Provincial Government, demanding that Beihai and Meilong be abolished and changed into police stations, so as to reduce the economic burden of Beihai. The reason is that "Beihai is not rich, the business in the city is not rich, the internal finance is chaotic, the impact on Guangzhou Bay is external, profits are declining, businessmen's business is losing money 19 years, and the people are in trouble. Why not increase the burden ... The city's current annual income is losing hundreds of yuan a month, and there is still a shortage. Why not spare the possibility of construction? It is better to cancel the market system and merge into the county government. Lighten the local burden ... (Excerpted from "Please Cancel the Southern District and Turn the Meilong City in Beihai into a Police Station" published in Guangzhou Republic Daily 10 +0928 65438+ 165438 Chen's Petition).

In fact, apart from the above reasons, the abolition of the Urban Services Department was not unrelated to the corruption and inaction of some principal officials of the Urban Services Department at that time. For example, a Commissioner of the Urban Services Department in chandy, 1926, took office only 10 months ago, and caused tens of thousands of people to demonstrate in Beihai because of "taking bribes and bending the law", shouting the slogan of "down with Chen, a corrupt official" and calling on the higher authorities to remove Chen. Chen submitted his resignation to the provincial government at the end of the year and finally fell.

1927 1 At the beginning of the year, Commissioner Zhou, who took over, was "absent for some reason" and was appointed as the Commissioner by Lin, the adjutant of the 11th Division stationed in Beihai at that time. Soon, Commissioner Zhou finally took office, but on April 27 of that year, he was impeached by the public for corruption and bribery. Beihai Administrative Office has just been established for more than two years, and four commissioners have taken office, two of whom are corrupt officials. It is difficult to reverse the passive economic situation in Beihai.

After the revocation of the municipal office, the public security police station shall exercise the functions and powers of the original municipal office. /kloc-Dongan Street, Shengping Street, Daxi Street and Jielong Bridge were expanded at the end of 0/928. At this time, some shops violate the rules, cut corners, and do not carry out construction according to the requirements of the original master plan, resulting in uneven street pavement construction and even dangerous buildings. So the police station posted a notice of "banning illegal and illegal buildings" in time, saying that "the construction of pavements in urban areas must be reported by drawings, and the construction can only be started by hanging a permit in front of the door ... If you dare to play with it again, you will be severely punished once it is discovered ... Due to the effective stop of the police station, the subsequent extension project of the main street was successfully completed at the end of 1930.

After the street was extended, Jielongqiao and Dongtai Street were renamed Zhuhai East Road; Donghua Street was renamed Zhuhai Middle Road; Dongan Street, Shengping Street and Daxi Street were renamed as Zhuhai West Road.

After the cancellation of the municipal government, Beihai's economy gradually recovered. According to Wang Han's China Harbor Records, the trade of Beihai Port reached its peak in the 24th year of the Republic of China (1929- 1937) from 18 to 26 years of the Republic of China. In the whole year, 566 ships were imported and exported, with 669,096 tons, with a total trade value of 3.37 million yuan. Foreign trade is most closely related to Vietnam. In 25 years of the Republic of China (1936), 429 seagoing vessels were imported and exported, accounting for 43 1728 tons. In addition, there are 192 ships in Hanoi, accounting for 38,208 tons.

The Urban Services Department was abolished less than three years after its establishment. Beihai's upgrading to an independent city is just a flash in the pan. Nevertheless, Zhuhai Road, as a product of that short time, has become a representative building of Beihai Old Street. When people visit this old street, they can still feel its former beauty and prosperity.

The Great Development of Old Street Culture

On June 5438+00, 2009, the first Beihai Old Street Culture and Art Festival sponsored by the Municipal Tourism Commission, Beihai Tourism Group Co., Ltd. and Beihai Guzhen Cultural Tourism Investment and Development Co., Ltd. started on February 2, 2009 10 and ended on 10. The main activities are 10 the opening ceremony of the art festival on the morning of February 2nd, and the launching ceremony of watercolors, strange stones, seashells, ancient boats and Ming and Qing furniture. The specific content is introduced in Beihai Old Street Life Information Portal. The Beihai Teaching and Creation Base of the School of Architecture of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beihai Teaching and Creation Base of Tsinghua University Academy of Fine Arts, Beihai Old Town Creation Base of Beijing Painting and Calligraphy Institute, Guangxi Liaison Department of China International Cultural Communication Center and Beihai Workstation of Tongji University National Historical and Cultural City Research Center were unveiled; 65438+1On the evening of October 3rd, "Centennial Old Street, 100 Beautiful Women and 100-meter Runway" set a Guinness record bikini show; 65438+1October 2-5, old street hip-hop show, performance art and band performance; Old street photography exhibition, the first century-old street photography competition; 1On the evening of October 5th, at 65438, Zhuhai East Road Street Dance Finals, Photo Contest Award Ceremony and Closing Ceremony of the First Laojie Culture and Art Festival. Holding the Old Street Culture and Art Festival is of great significance to excavate, publicize and carry forward the historical and cultural essence of Beihai, build a historical and cultural city of Beihai and enhance the image of Beihai. It can transform heavy cultural accumulation into economic vitality, gather popularity, enhance the image of old streets, promote commercial tourism of old streets, promote the harmonious development of tourism and promote economic and cultural construction.