Diagonally opposite the south gate of Baotu Spring, there is a seemingly ordinary alley - Nanxin Street. Speaking of this humble street, in addition to the slightly older old Jinan may have heard of it, I am afraid that many native-born young people will feel very strange.
Indeed, there is no hustle and bustle of traffic here, and it is difficult to get into the sight of young people who love to be very lively. However, it is such an old street that is almost forgotten, but it has witnessed the vicissitudes of the times in the past hundred years, and has also left the footprints of many historical celebrities.
Photography: Wang Qin
Nanxin Street is located in the relatively central area of Jinan City. The water of Baotu Spring brings a lively atmosphere to it, and the sound of the university's reading aloud attracts talented people with lofty ideals to come here, live here, feel it, and sprinkle the essence everywhere. Once a veritable cultural street, the street still retains traces of the lives of literati, salt merchants, and political celebrities.
The current No. 58 in the middle of Nanxin Street is the former residence of Mr. Lao She. When Mr. Lao She was teaching at Qilu University, he lived in three or four places. He lived here from 1931 to 1934, and although the conditions of these old residences are poor, they are also the best preserved.
Here, Mr. Lao She wrote masterpieces such as "Appreciation of Baotu Spring", "Spring of Daming Lake", "Autumn in Jinan", "Winter in Jinan" and so on, which have become prose classics that praise the style of Jinan, and the novels he created in Jinan are also foreign and grand views: "Cat City", "Divorce" and so on. Mr. Lao She wrote in the article "Hanging Jinan", "Whenever I pass there, there are always people who greet me with a smile; no matter where I go, there are always people there who think of me." Although four years is short, but it goes down in one breath, so the connection between things, the interaction between people, the substitution of happiness and sorrow, is obviously a section of its own here, deeply imprinted in the heart. With the passage of time, Jinan has become my second hometown."
Tips: At present, Lao She Former Residence is open every Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00 to 17:00, closed on Mondays (except national holidays)
Source: Lixia District Culture and Tourism Bureau