shangxiajiu road pedestrian mall

it is known that guangzhou is famous commercial city in ancient china, well-known for developed economy and commercial tradition of long standing. in shangxiajiu road pedestrian mall you can experience traditional business charming of guangzhou and see fascinating folk customs of xiguan.

this noted commercial street is located at xiguan in old town. it stretches from shangxiajiu road in the east to west dishifu road in the west, and traverses baohua road and wenchang road, about 1200 meters in total length. there are over 300 shops in this district. it is the first pedestrian mall approved by the ministry of commerce of china in guangzhou. its daily traffic is as high as 600000 person-times. you’d better not look down on this small street, for it is a collection of lingnan architectural culture, lingnan dietary culture and lingnan folk customs.

early in the ming dynasty xiguan had become a famous commercial street along with the development of commodity economy. as beijing road, zhongshan no.5 road, renmin road and changdi, xiguan is municipal first-class commercial district and a good choice for leisure shopping and sightseeing of citizens. it also attracts numerous tourists home and abroad and welcomes several travel groups to sightseeing shopping every day. decades of years shangjiu and xiajiu roads witness the rise—blossom—decline—resurgence—development—prosperity history of guangzhou business economy.

in the qing dynasty xiguan was meeting point of foreign trade and cultural communication of guangzhou, where several commercial streets came into being. in 1937, the business at xiguan moved to xiajiu road and dishifu road gradually. after the war of resistance against japan ended, merchants who had scattered to evade the war chaos went back to restart their business and prosperous xiguan street went back also. at that time shangjiu road were packed with goldsmith stores and cotton stores, and xiajiu road were packed with shoemakers, silk and satin shops and photography shops, so it’s reputed “street for beauty”. dishifu road has many cookshops and restaurants, so it went that “there must have a snack within 100 footsteps”. guangzhou century-old restaurants lianxiang restaurant and taotao ju are outstanding among them.

the storm of chinese “proletarian cultural great revolution” since 1966 stroke and destroyed this street, when taotao ju was renamed to “dongfeng restaurant” (metaphor of driving force of revolution) and threatened to move to conghua; lianxiang restaurant was renamed to “dongsheng restaurant” (metaphor of rising force of revolution) and could only process lotus jam…of nearly 30 eating houses 12 stopped business, 4 merged, and 2 moved away. the depression of business at shangjiu and xiajiu roads was too horrible to look at.

since 1985, recovery of commerce rejuvenates this commercial street. the overall refinishing in 1999 makes its face better. when the middle-autumn festival is coming, especially, the whole street becomes a confluence of famous-brand moon cakes of the city. the sweet smelling of lotus-jam moon cake of lianxiang restaurant, taotao ju moon cake of taotao ju, and newly-rising guangzhou restaurant moon cake fill the whole street and attract more and more customers, which is an interesting sight of guangzhou of middle autumn. this pedestrian mall is different from beijing road pedestrian mall. beijing road has strong modern feeling due to numerous famous brand franchise shops and bookstores, while shangxiajiu has many folk traditional commodities of various kinds and low price, and tea houses, restaurants, and nosheries are found everywhere here.

xiguan shangxijiu road and dishifu road is a shopping heaven in guangzhou for blossoming business, and gets international reputation for its full-bodied xiguan folk customs. this old street has yet kept lingnan-style terrace architecture.

terrance architecture is constructed to bestride the sidewalk and form a pedestrian corridor, adapted to the heaven-rain and high-temperature subtropical climate in guangzhou especially. in addition, shops within the sidewalk are convenient to open wide the door to receive customers. existing xiguan terrace architecture is a mix of chinese style and western style in the end of qing dynasty and beginning of the republic of china (1912-1949), combining chinese manchurian window, parapet wall, grille window and fencing with western exterior decorative pattern and cast-iron grille balcony.

in 2001, in order to reproduce prosperous commercial scene and terrace architecture of guangzhou, the municipal government invested rmb 36 million yuan to over-all finish shangxiajiu road pedestrian mall with lingnan flavor and xiguan folk customs, which makes this old traditional commercial street rejuvenated and become a window of guangzhou again.