red light district

red light district

Liuxiang is a commercial street with a long history in Taiyuan. Located in the downtown area of Taiyuan, it has a business history of more than 300 years. It has one of the four major night markets in China and the largest night market in North China, with a daily flow of more than 200000 people. Liu Xiang is one of the ten commercial streets in Chinese mainland.

Traffic information

Take bus No.10 or 25 and get off at "liuxiang" station, or take bus No.4, 10, 19, 25, 602 or 615 and get off at "Liubei" station.

Main attractions

Liuxiang, the oldest and most prosperous commercial street in Taiyuan, has a commercial history of more than 300 years. It is a must visit place for foreign tourists in Taiyuan.

When you come to Liuxiang, you have to talk about the time-honored brands here. Qingheyuan restaurant's "brain soup" has been moistening Taiyuan people's body and mind for a hundred years. In the era of economic difficulties, eating a meal of mutton steamed dumplings was a major pursuit of ordinary Taiyuan people. If they were greedy, local people would go to liuweizhai in Liuxiang to buy a piece of soy sauce, where the selection and preparation of soy sauce are strictly in accordance with traditional practices For foreign tourists, the double synthetic pastries and yiyuanqing Shanxi vinegar are also good hand letters.

In addition to tradition, Liuxiang is also fashionable. There are exclusive stores of popular clothing brands such as JeansWest, apple and boshilong, and modern shopping centers such as Guidu and Huayu. Every Spring Festival and major holidays, young people in Taiyuan will come to Liuxiang at midnight to shop. During the Spring Festival, the Chunyang palace nearby will hold the opening ceremony and Dharma meeting of Taoism, and watch the local Jin opera performance.

Historical legend

In the mouth of laoliuxiang people, there is a story spread from generation to generation: it is said that Zhu Hongwu, the founder of Huangji in the Ming Dynasty, the emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, in the war of the northern expedition to destroy the Yuan Dynasty, pointed to Taiyuan, the military fortress of the yuan army. The yuan army stationed in Taiyuan, relying on the geographical advantages of Taiyuan city's high and deep pool, waited for work with ease and was dying to defend. Chang Yuchun, a great general of the western expedition in the Ming Dynasty, disguised himself as a woodcutter to get to know the details of the enemy's defense and sneaked into Taiyuan City as an undercover. Unexpectedly, it's not confidential. Chang Yuchun's whereabouts were discovered by Yuan army spies. When he just crossed Qiaotou street outside the east gate of Taiyuan city and entered chaoximen, he was ambushed by the yuan army. In an urgent situation, General Chang opened a path of blood, turned into an alley under the root of the city wall, and got into an old courtyard in the north of the alley.

In this decadent courtyard, there is only one lonely old woman, Liu, who is getting older and older. Her husband was slaughtered by Yuan soldiers in his early years, and her son was arrested by Yuan soldiers, so he did not return. Therefore, she hated the rulers of Yuan Dynasty. When she saw that the woodcutter was chased by Yuan soldiers, she felt sympathy and hid Chang Yuchun in the woodpile in the backyard. The pursuers rushed into the hospital to search. Liu pretended to be deaf and dumb, and coaxed them away.

After General Chang was rescued, he deeply thanks the old man for saving his life. When he left, he picked a willow branch from the tree in the courtyard and handed it to Liu, saying, "old mother, there will be war soon. In order not to bring you back to war, please put it on the street door. When the army of Ming Dynasty saw the willow branch, they would protect it wholeheartedly. "

However, in a few days, the Ming army really invaded Taiyuan. Liu's family saw that the war was on the rise, so they were afraid that the neighbors would not escape the war. So they went from house to house and told the neighbors to take willow branches and stick them in the front of the door. As Chang Yuchun cleared up the enemy's situation in the city, he arranged an internal spy, and the Ming army quickly took Taiyuan city. According to the order of General Chang, the Ming soldiers who invaded the city saw the courtyard with willow branches on the door, so they took extra care to protect it.

After the war, in order to thank the Liu family and commemorate the restoration of Taiyuan, the neighbors planted the willow branches in front of the gate in front of the street. These willow branches take root, sprout and sprout. As time goes on, the willow branches inserted into the streets grow into small willows, big willows and old willows. From spring to summer, from summer to autumn, this humble alley is cool and comfortable with green willows and branches. Thus, a beautiful street named "liuxiang" came to the land of Taiyuan.

Legends often reveal history. According to the local chronicles, Liuxiang was not a prosperous street at first, but a dilapidated street in the courtyard, inhabited by the weather beaten poor citizens. It was the flood in the middle period of emperor Xu of Qing Dynasty that inundated the commercial streets and alleys in the south of the city and Nanguan city. Only then did the merchants gradually move to Liuxiang and Qiaotou street, making this secluded and depressed lane a busy place with shops and merchants. Especially in the more than 20 years after the revolution of 1911, the commodity trade of Liuxiang developed rapidly and became the commercial center of Taiyuan at that time. "Dalongxiang", "Qingji" and other five silk and satin shops compete here; "daxingmao", "Zhicheng", "Fusheng", "Qinghuayuan", "lvhuaxin" and other shoe shops compete here; "Zhonghua", "Zhongde", "shuntianli" and other medicine shops compete here "Henglongyuan", "Dongfang Deyong", "nearly Yihao", "sanhexing", "sanyiyong", "daoxiangcun" and other vegetable shops, tea houses, snack shops, fruit shops have made their fortune here. The famous "Zhengda Hotel" and "Jinlong Hotel" have newly built western style halls, cooked Chinese and Western dishes, and operated luxury hotels, where most dignitaries stay for recreation.

With the abnormal development and rapid expansion of Liuxiang business market, many merchants in Beijing, Tianjin, Henan and Hebei are also attracted by it. Huang Houfu, a businessman from Tianjin, has set up huataihou clothing industry in Henan Province, huataihou in Taiyuan in Liuxiang; lerentang drugstore, a famous drugstore in Tianjin, has set up lerentang branch in Liuxiang; Jijia and Jijia brothers have also set up double synthesis food stores in Liuxiang In a short period of time, a willow lane has turned into a commercial downtown with 40 or 50 shops.

From the end of 1930s to the middle of 1940s, the Japanese invaders trampled on Taiyuan, the shops in Liuxiang closed down one after another, and most of the merchants went bankrupt. It was only after the liberation of Taiyuan that they slowly recovered.

Historical evolution

Chucheng: favorable weather, favorable location and harmonious people

In 1897, Hu Chengzhi, the governor of Shanxi Province, adhered to Zhang Zhidong's idea of "making use of Shanxi Railway" and proposed to build a railway between Zhengding in Hebei Province and Taiyuan in Shanxi Province to facilitate the outward transportation of Shanxi railway. In 1907, the Zhengtai railway was completed. The construction of the railway enlivened the commerce of Shanxi. In the following 20 or 30 years, the goods of merchants from other places entered along the railway, which made Liuxiang the commercial street.

During the reign of Emperor Guangxu, a flood inundated the area of Fuqian Street (now Fuxi Street), which was the busiest street at that time. First of all, it is not Liuxiang, but Kaihua. Kaihua city was formerly known as Kaihua temple. In the late Qing Dynasty, the fireworks in the temple withered. In order to make a living, monks had to leave the front courtyard and become the business place of merchants. Kaihua Temple gradually became "Kaihua city". After the revolution of 1911, the temple was built as a republic market, and then it was expanded again and again. In 1922, the Republic market was officially renamed Kaihua market. At that time, the total area of Kaihua city was 1200 square meters, and there were more than 200 small and medium-sized businesses, including three educations and nine streams. They were called "Dashilan" of Taiyuan.

The business circle effect brought by the prosperity of Kaihua city is "Renhe". In the early days of the prosperity of Kaihua City, Liuxiang was just a small lane. Occasionally, street vendors set up stalls here, which was also a lack of business. However, with the coming of merchants from Beijing, Tianjin, Henan and Hebei, Liuxiang has ushered in the opportunity of great changes.

Prosperous: merchants gather all over the country and shops are well-known all over the country

Ma Xiuying, 84, was born in Taiyuan city and has lived in Dapu Prefecture since she was a child. Liuxiang and Kaihua city are the places she goes most often.

Ma Xiuying said that her ancestral home is Baoding, Hebei Province. Her father came to Taiyuan, "Taiyuan has many mines and factories, so it's a good place to live." At that time, around Liuxiang, there were many people who fled from Henan and Hebei, and formed their own circles. Hebei helped to make more food; Henan helped to make clothes and shoes; Beijing and Tianjin helped to open medicine shops Ma Xiuying said that perhaps it is the general trend that old Taiyuan people only do big business, not small business. Those who have a little property rent the courtyard to foreigners. The rent is enough to live a leisurely life. Most of the people who have no money go out to do short-term jobs. They do business such as pulling carts, carrying water and making coal cakes, but they also live a good life. Ma Xiuying's father used to be a clerk in Daoxiang village, a time-honored pastry shop. Ma Xiuying recalls that when rich people bought pastries, they all came to Liuxiang, because there were two most famous pastry shops, Daoxiang village and Laoxiang village, which sold authentic Beijing style and Suzhou style pastries.

In fact, it was not only pastry shops, but also the best silk shops at that time, namely dalongxiang and Qingji; the best shoe shops, namely Fusheng, Qinghuayuan and lvhuaxin; the best medicine shops, namely lerentang and shuntianli; and the best restaurants, namely Zhengda and Jinlong. In the 1920s and 1930s, Liuxiang, a small lane less than four or five meters wide and two or three miles long, had forty or fifty shops, and merchants gathered all over the country. If Kaihua is Taiyuan's big fence, then Liuxiang is Taiyuan's Wangfujing.

Mr. Qi Shaojing is the descendant of the shareholder of "Qinghuayuan", which is one of the earliest shoe shops in Liuxiang. Mr. Qi said that in Kaihua, there are many small traders and vendors, while in Liuxiang, there are many gate faces. Things are rare, foreign style, price

Chinese PinYin : Liu Xiang