The History of Beihai Old Street in Guangxi

Beihai Old Street generally refers to Zhuhai Road, which was formed around 1927, but its origin dates back to1the beginning of the 9th century. Since then, a number of western-style buildings have been built in Beihai. After more than half a century of cultural integration, the arcade old street we see today has finally formed.

These arcades are not simple copies of western architecture. From the deep cultural roots, it is the blood of the splendid civilization of the Chinese nation and the beautiful crystallization of the collision between eastern and western cultures.

Before 1927, Zhuhai Road was once the most prosperous business district in Beihai, with many shops. The shop in the middle mainly deals in silks and satins of Suzhou and Hangzhou, the shop in the east mainly deals in dry seafood such as squid, worm, dried shrimp and dried fish, and the west section is close to Waisha Port. All the shops deal in fishermen's articles, such as cables, fishing nets, hooks, fishing lights, canvas and boat nails.

With the passage of time, Zhuhai Road gradually lost its former prosperity. Except for a few sporadic shops dealing in fishing gear, almost all other shops have become private houses, and street buildings are aging. However, due to the well-preserved Zhuhai Road, it is still praised as the "Yearbook of Modern Architecture" by historians and architects.

Yi Shu, a famous writer (the son of Lao She), thinks that Zhuhai Road is exactly the same as Singapore's national treasure old street, and suggests that Zhuhai protect this old street with great development value.

Mr Baird, a British architectural expert, believes that the historical and cultural value of Zhuhai Road is of great significance not only to Beihai, but also to South China, China and even the whole world. Pierre Bourcq, the mayor of Montreal, suggested that Beihai apply to UNESCO for the protection of Zhuhai Road as a world cultural heritage. Unfortunately, this street has been destroyed.

History and development:

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: "Beihai is not rich, the city's business, internal financial chaos, the impact on Guangzhou Bay, the decline in profits, businessmen doing business, losses 19 years, people's difficulties, how can we increase the burden ... The city's current annual income, a monthly loss of several hundred yuan, remains unchanged, there is still a shortage, how can it spare the energy to engage in construction? It is better to abolish the market system and merge the county government to reduce the local burden. "

According to Chen's letter, the Guangdong Provincial Government abolished the Beihai Municipal Administrative Office in June 1928+0 1, and "merged the administration into the county police station" and "established the second branch of the public security project" to streamline the organization and revive the economy.

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, which makes the street pavement buildings uneven and even dangerous buildings appear.

As a result, the police station posted the Notice on Prohibiting Illegal and Illegal Construction in time, saying that "the construction of pavement in urban areas must be reported with drawings, and the construction can only be started after the permit is hung in front of the door. If you dare to play with it again, you will violate the rules. Once found, hell to pay will be. " 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.

Extended data:

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Beihai Old Town develops from Beihai Bay from west to east and from north to south. Shaji Street, Xijing Street, Zhuhai Road and Zhongshan Road record the development of Beihai.

The architecture of the old street has its own regional characteristics, and it also absorbs the characteristics of Lingnan architecture and some artistic styles of western architecture, such as the architectural pattern of "front shop and back residence", Zhongdingdian, dragging cage doors and western parapet decoration.

The formation of old streets laid the foundation of urban life in Beihai. The unique geographical location, the intersection of Chinese and Western cultures, and the subtropical monsoon climate have created the unique customs of Beihai people in life, production, festivals and languages.

Compared with traditional cities, Beihai has existed as a "city" commercial port since its birth, and the formation and development of old streets are in line with the development of commerce. In its heyday, Beihai was a big commercial port city in South China. At that time, there were many businesses in the old street, which was worth an inch of land.

Life in the old street is very rich. In the old streets of the 1920s and 1930s, there were various folk entertainment activities, such as dragon and lion dances, movies, Cantonese operas and storytelling.

The old street has a rich educational atmosphere. At that time, the earliest private schools, modern schools, and missionary schools combining Chinese and Western cultures were just a picture full of books.

Wushu, swimming, football, dragon boat, shell digging, fishing and sportsmanship have always been important components of Beihai spirit.

Relying on mountains to eat, relying on the sea to eat the sea, Beihai's diet is deeply influenced by Lingnan culture and has distinctive regional characteristics. Water shrimp, water fish, crab juice, Jia seafood, Cantonese dim sum.

Entrepreneurial stories of celebrities in the old street, such as coffee night and Tinghui, have been talked about so far, as well as the legends of Shamaojiao couple and Ruiyuan.

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