Qianmen Street

Qianmen Street is a very famous commercial street in Beijing. Located in the central axis of the capital, it starts from Yueliangwan, Qianmen in the north and ends at the intersection of Tianqiao in the south, connecting with the South Street of Tianqiao. Before the construction of the outer city in 1550, it was the imperial road for the emperor to go to the temple of heaven and the mountain and river altar. After the construction of the outer city, it was the main north-south street. The street is 845 meters long and 20 meters wide. From Ming Dynasty to the Republic of China, it was called Zhengyangmen street. People commonly called Qianmen Street. It was officially named Qianmen Street in 1965.

In the middle of Ming Dynasty, due to the development of Commerce, markets and streets such as Xianyukou, Zhushikou, meishikou and commissariat shops appeared on both sides of Qianmen Street. Qianmen Street became a commercial street. Beijing's most famous "Dashilar" is also among them. In the late Qing Dynasty, Qianmen Street had a night market.

Since 1979, while the original time-honored shops and traditional business characteristics have been basically preserved, new shops have been opened in succession, such as hardware and electrical appliances, clothing department stores, bicycles, food, clocks and watches, chemical paint, etc.

Qianmen Street

Qianmen Street is a very famous commercial street in Beijing. Located in the central axis of the capital, it starts from Yueliangwan, Qianmen in the north and ends at the intersection of Tianqiao in the south, connecting with the South Street of Tianqiao. Before the construction of the outer city in 1550, it was the imperial road for the emperor to go to the temple of heaven and the mountain and river altar. After the construction of the outer city, it was the main north-south street. It is commonly known as Qianmen Street.

The main street is 845 meters long and the carriageway is 20 meters wide. From Ming Dynasty to the Republic of China, it was called Zhengyangmen street. It was officially named Qianmen Street in 1965.

Development history

From the Ming Dynasty to the Republic of China, it was called Zhengyangmen street, and the people commonly called Qianmen Street. It was officially named Qianmen Street in 1965.

Qianmen Street in Ming Dynasty is the dividing line between ZhengDongFang and zhengxifang, which is divided by the center of the street. It belongs to ZhengDongFang in the East and zhengxifang in the West. Because Zhengyangmen is the main gate of the capital, Qianmen Street is wider than other Chengmen streets. In terms of urban construction system, Beijing City in Ming Dynasty broke through the custom of "front Dynasty and back market" followed by Yuan Dynasty. Around Zhengyangmen and south to Xianyukou and Langfang Hutong, a large business district was formed.

In the middle of Ming Dynasty, due to the development of Commerce, Qianmen Street was closed

Markets and streets such as Xianyukou, Zhushikou, meishikou and grain shops appeared on both sides, and Qianmen Street became a commercial street. Beijing's most famous "Dashilar" is also among them. After Jiajing of Ming Dynasty, in order to solve the problem of accommodation for examinees in Beijing, officials of various provinces and cities set up guildhalls on the two sides of Qianmen Street. People often come to Qianmen Street to buy daily necessities or drink for fun, which also makes Qianmen Street a prosperous commercial street.

In the early Qing Dynasty, the eastern city's light market was moved to Qianmen area, and in order to maintain the dignity of the imperial power, theaters, tea gardens and brothels were only allowed to open outside the city, so Qianmen Street was further prosperous than before. In the Qing Dynasty, many specialized markets were formed on both sides of the street, such as fresh fish market, meat market, fruit market, cloth market, grass market, pig market, grain market, jewelry market, melon seed market, etc. In the nearby Hutong, there are many craftsmen's workshops, warehouses, chariots and horses' shops, hotels, guild halls, and opera gardens such as Qingle, Sanqing and Huale. The shack houses in the main street were gradually transformed into formal houses of brick and wood structure, forming three streets with Li street behind the houses in the East and West. In the East, Li street is meat Market Street, bu alley and fruit market, while in the west, Li street is jewelry market and grain market. Most of the shops in Qianmen waizheng street were founded later than those in Li street. There are Quanjude roast duck shop, Yijianfang roast duck shop, huixianju fried liver shop, yongantang pharmacy, heihoumao shop, duyichu Shaomai shop, zhengyanglou restaurant, ruishengxiang, jiulongzhai fresh fruit shop, tongsanyi dried fruit seafood shop, zhengmingzhai pastry shop, etc. There are yongzenghe bank, Ruixiang silk shop, tianhuizhai snuff shop, Tongrentang drugstore, Liubiju sauce garden, yitiaolong mutton restaurant, etc.

In the late Qing Dynasty, Qianmen Street had a night market. After 1901, Qianmen railway station was set up on the East and west sides of Qianmen Jianlou. Qianmen Street became the transportation hub between Beijing and other provinces.

In the early 1950s, there were more than 800 private commercial households in Qianmen area. On the east side of Qianmen Street, from north to south, there are Dabei photo studio, qinglinchun tea shop, tongsanyi fruit seafood shop, Lili restaurant, tianchengzhai pastry shop, Yijianfang roast duck shop, laozhengxing restaurant, puland washing and dyeing shop, Yizhao cotton department store, Qianmen hardware store, etc.

Qianmen Street

It starts from Yueliangwan in Qianmen in the north and ends at the intersection of Tianqiao in the south, with a total length of 845 meters. On both sides of Qianmen Street alone, it has a total construction area of 66000 square meters, accommodating about 180 businesses.

Famous stores of past dynasties

During the reign of Qianlong and Jiaqing, Yu Qingyuan described the bustle of Qianmen Street in his Chunming congtan: "Zhushi is the gate of Zhengyang. It's two or three li in front and behind. All of them are merchants of Yin Dynasty. Qianmen Street has its own shops. All the gold, silver, jewelry and food are like mountains, wine Pavilion and song tower, cheering and drinking, and the day goes on and on This shows that Qianmen Street was full of money and money, and there were several big restaurants in Qianmen Street at that time.

Xianfeng five years (1855) here opened a "cheap square roast duck shop"; Tongzhi three years (1864) opened a "Quanjude hanging stove roast duck shop"; the "duyichu" restaurant legend is that Emperor Qianlong came here to eat roast wheat, said a word of praise and named.

During the reign of Emperor Guangxu, there were also famous food stores such as "zhimeizhai" wonton, "jiulongzhai" sour plum soup (at the east entrance of Dashilan), "Liubiju" pickles, "zhengmingzhai" Manchu and Han pastries.

After the Republic of China, Yueshengzhai, which is famous for selling pickled mutton, also moved to Qianmen Street. At this time, due to the establishment of Qianmen railway station, handling a large number of passengers every day, Qianmen Street is more crowded.

Qianmen Street is still a beautiful street. Kong Shangren, the author of Peach Blossom Fan, once sang: "the road of Qianmen chariot is yellow and soft"; in Xuantong, someone described Qianmen Street as "green poplar, weeping willow, horse and cherry blossom", with red and green on both sides of the road, and passers-by are happy but tired.

Later, most of the characteristics of Qianmen Street were preserved, and several large clothing stores and department stores were opened. Dabei photo studio, the oldest photo studio in Beijing, and laozhengxing restaurant, which was moved from Shanghai to Beijing, are also open here. The famous Dashilan, Bada Hutong, Ji Xiaolan's former residence and Liulichang are also in Qianmen area. The national style remains relatively complete. You can see how complete it is from the later films.

The planned Qianmen commercial street will no longer be allowed to open to traffic, but will be changed into a pedestrian street. Only the Dingdang cars in old Beijing can "boast" across the city. More than 80 time-honored brands in Beijing will be lined up on both sides of the reconstructed Qianmen Commercial Street (the central axis road from Qianmen to Yongdingmen), and all of them will display gold lettered signboards with black background. It is reported that in the future, the jingdangche Qianmen commercial street will also be paved with railway tracks. The old prosperous business city of Beijing will meet the public before 2008. In order to ensure the overall repair of Qianmen area, the demolition construction of Qianmen East Road will be accelerated first, and the planning of Zhengyi Road South extension, xishuichang street, Xiheyan and other municipal roads will be completed.

Main attractions

Guanghe building, also known as "Guanghe chalou" or "chalou", is an indispensable landscape of Qianmen Street, where the original memory of Liyuan culture in old Beijing is sealed up. Guanghe building, built in the late Ming Dynasty, was the earliest and most famous theater building in the capital. Together with Huale building, Guangde building and the first stage, it was known as the four opera gardens in the capital. Chalou was originally a theater in a private garden. Its prosperity began in the reign of Emperor Kangxi. At that time, chalou was no longer a lonely terrace in private gardens, but a tea garden open to the outside world. It was originally named Chajia teahouse and Chajia teahouse, and later renamed Guanghe teahouse. Kangxi came here to see a play, and gave it to the Taiwan Federation, which made it immeasurable.

Since the reform and opening up, with the "invasion" of film, television and other trendy cultures, many old opera gardens have been reduced to ashes in the bulldozers of urban construction. Although guanghelou has survived the disaster, in order to make a living, it has spared movies, held social dance competitions, and once worked as a theater, so guanghelou has changed its name to Guanghe theater. Since 1996, there has been no Peking opera performance here.

Practical information

Surrounding business district

In the early 1950s, there were more than 800 private commercial households in Qianmen area. On the east side of Qianmen Street, there are Dabei photo studio, Qinglin chunqianmen Street tea shop, tongsanyi fruit seafood shop, Lili restaurant, tianchengzhai pastry shop, Yijianfang roast duck shop, laozhengxing restaurant, puland washing and dyeing shop, Yizhao cotton weaving department store, Qianmen hardware shop and other shops; on the west side, there are Yueshengzhai sauce meat shop, Huafu watch shop, Qingyitang drugstore, yitiao'long Yangrouguan, Shengxifu hat shop, Gongxing cultural goods shop, xiangjugong Bobo shop, Longshuncheng wooden furniture sales department, Qianmen Street hemp rope shop, Qianmen bicycle shop, Qianmen Trust shop, etc. Since 1979, while the original time-honored shops and traditional business characteristics have been basically preserved, new shops have been opened in succession, such as hardware and electrical appliances, clothing department stores, bicycles, food, clocks and watches, chemical paint, etc.

The long history of Qianmen Street has created many time-honored Chinese brands, such as Liubiju soy sauce garden, Tongrentang drugstore, Ruixiang silk cloth store, Changchun Tang drugstore, neiliansheng shoes store, Zhang Yiyuan tea house, Yueshengzhai soy sauce and meat store, duyichu Shaomai store, etc. In fresh fish mouth, grinding factory and other hutongs, there are also many shops and restaurants, but

Chinese PinYin : Qian Men Da Jie