Pingjiang Road

Pingjiang road is an old historical street in Suzhou. It is a small road along the river. Its river is named Pingjiang river. It is the most complete preserved area of the ancient city of Suzhou so far, which can be called the epitome of the ancient city. Compared with the Pingjiang map of the Southern Song Dynasty and the general plan of the inner waterways of Suzhou Fu City in the late Ming Dynasty, Pingjiang road has basically continued the pattern of city and square since the Tang and Song Dynasties, and has maintained its vitality. If you haven't been to Pingjiang road in Suzhou, you don't have been to Suzhou.

Pingjiang Road

Pingjiang road is an old historical street in Suzhou. It is a small road along the river. The river is called Pingjiang river. Pingjiang Road Historic District is the most complete preserved area of Suzhou ancient city so far, which can be called the epitome of the ancient city. Comparison of Pingjiang painting in Southern Song Dynasty

》And the general plan of the waterways in Suzhou Fu City in the late Ming Dynasty, Pingjiang road basically continued the pattern of city and square since the Tang and Song Dynasties, and has maintained its vitality up to now.

geographical position

Pingjiang road starts from Ganjiang East Road in the south, and connects Baita East Road and Dongbei street in the north. Its ancient name is "shiquanli". It appeared earlier in the book Wumen biaoyin in 1834, which said: "Pingjiang road was formerly known as shiquanli, with ten ancient wells, one in the south of Huayang bridge, one in the south of Xijia bridge, and one in the north of Yuanqiao". Pingjiang road is a road along the river. When I went there, I looked at the map. The total length of this road is 1606 meters, which is three li long. There are many narrow streets on both sides, such as shizisi lane, Chuanfang lane, donghuaqiao lane, caohuxu lane, daxinqiao lane, weidaoguanqian Lane, Zhongzhang lane, Daru lane, Dingxiang lane, huxiangshi lane, Xiaojia lane, Niujia lane, Xuanqiao lane, etc.

Place name allusion

In the Song Dynasty, Suzhou was called "Pingjiang" because of this. Pingjiang road is called shiquanli in ancient times, because there are ten ancient wells along the road. However, in the palace map of Changzhou county annals written by Qianlong of Qing Dynasty, it has been marked as "Pingjiang road". Since Suzhou Prefecture annals written by Tongzhi of Qing Dynasty, this road has been called Pingjiang Road, and the map of Gusu has also been marked as Pingjiang road.

Current situation of streets and alleys

It is 1606.8 meters long and 3.2 meters wide. In 1985, it was changed into rectangular stone herringbone pavement. In May 2004, the protection and renovation project of Pingjiang road was completed, and the road surface was reconstructed and paved with traditional long stones. Most of the branch lanes on both sides have a long history. The road is famous for its "parallel water and land, and adjacent River streets". The Pingjiang River on the west side is the fourth straight river in the main stream of "three horizontal and four straight" in the ancient city, 5-6 meters wide. There are 11 bridges in the middle from Yuanqiao in the south to Huayang bridge in the north, crossing it from east to west.

Historical celebrities

When it comes to Pingjiang Road, it's easy to get in touch with two celebrities who live at No. 27, Xuanqiao lane, Pingjiang road. Hong Jun, No.1 in high school in the seventh year of Tongzhi, was promoted from Hanlin academy to Zuoshi Lang of the Ministry of war. He was famous for his official nature. However, his later romantic marriage made him famous. That is, he married Sai Jinhua, a 28 year old "famous prostitute of Qinhuai River" to Hong's family on a sunny morning in 1886 and became his third wife.

It is said that Hong Jun was on his way home to mourn when he saw Sai Jinhua singing on the Qinhuai River. This shows the history of "pear blossom and Begonia". At that time, he let Sai Jinhua play and sing for him. Later, at the instigation of friends, the marriage was agreed by the first and second wives. So in the second year of sweet scented osmanthus season, beauty Sai Jinhua walked into No. 27 of Xuanqiao lane. Lord Hong also built a house for Sai Jinhua, the "seventh entrance" house of the Hong family. In the dense water atmosphere of Jiangnan, Sai Jinhua is relaxing and moistening in the courtyard on the 27th. She often listens to Kunqu Opera and Beijing opera after dinner or in her spare time. In the eyes of the servants, she is a gentle and kind person. Dairu looked down upon her as a concubine, but on the whole, the marriage was wonderful.

In the midsummer of 1890, Hong Jun, as an envoy of the Qing government, returned from the four western countries with "great reputation" and took Sai Jinhua with him. At this time, Sai Jinhua was able to speak a good foreign language and made great changes in the social circle. Naturally, he became the first generation of "communication flower" in China. They still went back to Suzhou, Pingjiang Road, No. 29 Xuanqiao lane, and brought back a piano. However, only two months later, Hong Jun died at the age of 55. It was too early. Leaving Sai Jinhua young and beautiful, she left 29 Xuanqiao lane with infinite emotion and went to Shanghai, where she started her life as a "famous prostitute". Calculating the time, Sai Jinhua has lived in the Hongs' courtyard in Xuanqiao Lane beside Pingjiang road for only half a year, and he has been a member of Hongjun for only seven years. However, the 27th and 29th of Xuanqiao Lane have become an eternal story. Walking here, it seems that sometimes he will feel that the elegant Sai Jinhua will come out of the street corner!

Local characteristics

Water Lane

Pingjiang road is a small road beside the river, connecting Zhuozheng garden in the north and overlooking twin towers in the south. With a total length of 1606 meters, it is a classic Water Lane with a long history in Suzhou. As early as in the map of Pingjiang of Suzhou in the Southern Song Dynasty, Pingjiang road was clearly distinguishable, and it was the main road in the eastern part of Suzhou at that time. For more than 800 years, not only the river form and street system of Pingjiang road are basically similar to the original, but also the water town pattern of "parallel waterways and adjacent River streets" is clearly preserved. Pingjiang road is the best preserved ancient street in Suzhou. It is separated from Guanqian Street, but its quiet and simple life is totally different from the noisy world.

Although Pingjiang road has been protected and reconstructed as a historical and cultural street, its main task is to repair the old as before. Many old houses along the street have been used as bars and clubs, but their appearance is not obvious. They are hidden under the wooden door panels. At first glance, they look the same as ordinary houses. Only from the exquisitely carved porch can we see some clues. Compared with Shantang street, which is the same old street in Suzhou, Pingjiang road is less commercial, keeps the old appearance of the streets, and retains the public sentiment to a greater extent.

delicious food

In addition to being famous for its history, Pingjiang road's food is one of the outstanding features of Pingjiang road. The old street here not only preserves ancient buildings, but also the food and restaurants of the old street are closely related to Suzhou's ancient food culture. There are three major characteristics of food in this street: first, the street side food along the old street from the beginning to the end is cooked by local original residents, Wearing clothes with Jiangnan characteristics, you can hawk along the street, such as sweet scented osmanthus cake, wine ball, fresh meat moon cake, Haitang cake, zhutongciba, big bowl tea, etc. you can enjoy Pingjiang Road culture while walking. Second, the shops standing on the street under the green bricks and white tiles should not be underestimated. Many friends who can eat are specially for them. For example, there is a Zhuangyuan Street dumpling restaurant next to Pingjiang inn. The entrance of his family's Soviet style opium fish head is smooth and fragrant, which is hard to forget. Lege Belgium hot sun muffin shop in the north section of Pingjiang road. The baked muffins are crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. With pure cream and fresh fruits, you can probably find his home from Humble Administrator's garden by following the fragrance. The chicken feet corner on the central axis, the chicken feet and duck tongue of their family are very delicious. The fragrance overflows all over the old street, and there are fried shops. After a bite, the fried juice will flow out, and the meat taste is very good. The old people living in the south of the Yangtze River all compare Suzhou fried buns with Shanghai's famous xiaolongbao.

Third, some large-scale restaurants are mainly engaged in Suzhou cuisine, with more authentic old tastes. For example, squirrel mandarin fish, crab bean curd, sweet and sour ribs, sweet and sour fish, pickled hoof bladder, preserved egg and lean meat porridge are all must order dishes. People will salivate at the mere sight of this dish name. All the delicacies here show the food culture of Pingjiang road and tell the ancient food stories.

private home

Pingjiang road is surrounded by a large number of old-fashioned houses, and it's hard to see tall buildings from afar. Most of the dwellings in the west of the river are built according to the river. Old houses with white walls and green tiles, wooden grating and flower windows, and the wood is mostly brown red or brown black, light and distinct. Most of the exterior walls are mottled, but they are as pale as blue. There are a lot of vines on the wall, swaying with the wind. The ingenuity of the craftsmen in the south of the Yangtze River brings the Garden Aesthetics into full play.

Daily residence, the quiet river and the houses, pavilions, bridges, flowers and trees with white walls and tiles borrow scenery from each other, just like a long scroll painting. By chance, a willow leaned on the river, which was quite like a wave. In the narrow part of the river, it seems that the two sides of the river can help each other. In the wide part, it can allow a boat to turn around, but it can also be called from the water.

Walking south from Pingjiang Road, you can hear the melodious Guqin. It's a Qin hall. It's said that Wu's descendants were invited to teach the art of Guqin. In the middle of Zhangjia lane, it's not a few steps away. It's also a kind of sound of silk and bamboo in the south of the Yangtze River. It's a Pingtan Museum,

Around the exhibition hall, the backyard is the bookstore. Just in time, I spent a few tickets and listened to a paragraph of Tanchi. People in the stands said that they were playing and singing in a funny way, but they were also in high spirits. After walking out of the bookstore and deep into the alley, you can see another Kunqu Museum. Chongji tubular tile, with prominent plaque and red lanterns, seems to be similar to the general traditional architecture. At first glance, it doesn't feel strange. In fact, it's good to walk in. The courtyard is spacious, paved with stone slabs, with box buildings on both sides, a hall facing south in the north, and an ancient stage in the middle of the south.

The original site of the museum has a long history. It is the Quanjin guild hall of that year, which was built by Shanxi businessmen living in Suzhou in the late Qing Dynasty

Chinese PinYin : Ping Jiang Lu