Pingyao Old Street Travel Guide: Pingyao Old Street after renovation
Pingyao Old Street is located in Yuhang District, Hangzhou. It is an ancient town full of history. With a history of more than a thousand years, it is also the base of kiln culture in the south of the Yangtze River. The following is a list of Pingyao Old Street travel notes.
Pingyao was called Shiting in ancient times. According to the Lin'an Prefecture in Xianchun of the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhenbei Mountain was called Shiting Mountain in ancient times. The villages at the foot of the mountain were named after the mountain.
In the Song Dynasty, a kiln for firing pottery bottles was built at the southern foot of Shiting Mountain. It was originally called Yaoshan, so Shiting Village was renamed Ping Kiln.
During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty (1573-1620), Huzhou scholar Zhu Guozhen once said in the "Notes on the Reconstruction of Zhenji Chanyuan in Ping Kiln": "Ping Kiln is simple and frugal, and since it has been cultivating mulberry trees, it has mostly been engaged in farming. Therefore, the city is opposite to the pottery cave. "About this time, Pingyao was upgraded from a village to a town.
The bottle kiln has always been a battleground for military strategists. Matou Pass in the north of the town is one of the three passes in northwest Zhejiang and is the passage from northwest Zhejiang to Hangzhou. Commonly known as Tieling Pass, Tieling Pass is surrounded by Tieling Pass, hence the name, in order to keep enemies out. After crossing Dusong Pass, the north and south roads enter Hangzhou, and the north road passes through Ping Kiln.
After crossing Pingyao Bridge and walking a few steps west, you will arrive at Li Yao Street, also known as Pingyao Old Street. Every detail here tells the story of the 1970s and 1980s.
Li Yao Street (Pingyao Old Street)
Many old shops on Li Yao Street have closed down. There are dusty shop doors, mottled windows, a missing corner of the eaves, and crisscrossed wires on the roof. For them, time seems to have frozen.
Pingyao Supply and Marketing Cooperative, dilapidated houses,
The "retired" Pingyao Cinema and Library
However, there are some shops that are still persisting. The older generation has used sincerity and quality to support these once-splendid shops to gain a firm foothold in the new era.
Walking there, you will feel like you are in another world.
If you wear the skirt that your mother wore when she was young and walk on the old street, you will feel that you have traveled to the era of ticket shopping.
The bottle kiln was originally a three-piece set.
A mountain, a creek, a street.
Thirty years ago, there were only 0.8 square kilometers of bottle kilns, mainly concentrated in the fields in front of the cinema. At that time, it was the most prosperous area of Ping Kiln.
Because it is adjacent to Tiao River, Pingyao's water transportation is very developed, and villagers from the surrounding nine towns come to the market with their goods. Watching a movie can be a wonderful thing. "
The most magnificent building in the old street at that time was the Pingyao Cinema. "The cinema was built in the 1970s. There was no such thing as pre-sale at that time. Tickets cost 8 cents and can be purchased on demand.
Pingyao Cinema
The weight of the old street is enough to carry the childhood memories of everyone in this city.
If you are a passerby, just say the word "Old Street" to the people in Pingyao, and everyone will give you directions. "On the north bank of Tiao River, just cross the Pingyao Bridge from Xixian Datang."
The existing Pingyao Old Street does not just refer to a street, but is synonymous with the old city.
The Pingyao Ancient Town standing by Tiao River should have some whitewashed walls and black tiles, carved doors and windows, and flying eaves and walls, but it is also a bit shabby under the grinding of annual rings.
18 Mysterious Wells
When I arrived at Pingyao Old Street, I had to say a strange thing, which were the eighteen alleys and the eighteen wells in the alleys.
These 18 wells are all lying in the middle of the road. Until now, they are still important places for water collection in people's daily lives. Why is the old street laid out into eighteen lanes and eighteen wells? The residents on the old street couldn't explain why. They only knew that this well and this alley existed many years ago.
"According to legend, the bottle kiln is a place with excellent Feng Shui. There are two pig-shaped hills behind the old street, hip to hip, instead of mirrors. When Zhu Yuanzhang established his capital in Nanjing, he ordered his adviser Liu Bowen to destroy it everywhere Feng shui prevents outstanding figures from creating heroes and shaking their status. At this time, Liu Bowen discovered these two mountains, so he dug 18 wells on the side of the mountains, distributed in the belly of the two pigs.
From the side of the well. Looking at it, the villagers' houses are arranged compactly along the hillside.
If you are interested in knowing what this legend is or visiting these 18 wells, you can first pay attention to these 18 alleys. name.
From west to east, Liyao Street includes Zaixing Lane, Lijia Lane, Shiyu Lane, Ancestral Hall Lane, Jingtou Lane, Cairen Lane, Huajia Lane, Primary School Lane, Chamber of Commerce Lane, Bafang Lane, Tangjia Lane, Fangjia Lane, Wujia Lane, Waiyao Lane, Shengdian Lane, as well as Jiangjia Lane, Wandian Lane and Hengcha Lane located in Xixi Street.
Old City Renovation
Because most of the buildings in Pingyao Ancient City were built in the 1970s and 1980s. Sanitation, transport and fire protection equipment.
These urban functions cannot meet the living needs of residents. The developed water system and low-lying terrain cause flooding in the old city every time it rains. Therefore, today's bottle kiln is undergoing tremendous changes.
People who go to the bottle kiln recently may encounter various inconveniences. Many houses have been included in the scope of demolition and reconstruction, and the roads are muddy and dusty.
It is said that in Li Yao’s renovation plan, Pingyao Town did not unify all the houses, but customized them according to the original buildings, and upgraded and reinforced them while retaining some elements of the times;
Rebuild some old shops that are about to disappear, inject fresh blood, let the craftsmanship be passed down, and let the shops survive; bring together some scattered jade carving processing factories to encourage upgrading and transformation to form an industrial belt
I hope that after some renovation, the bottle kiln can return to the glory of that era, the old people on the street can regain the beautiful memories of their youth, and let more tourists like us discover the charm of the old street.