On December 31, an exhibition of photographic works spanning nearly 100 years was opened at the Pedestrian Street of Sun Wen West Road in Shiqi Street, Zhongshan City. Through a series of photos with a sense of the times, people's memories seem to be taken by the time machine to the frame of history that belongs to Sun Wen West Road, to appreciate the prosperity and glory of this century-old street.
In the long river of history, a hundred years is only a moment. But for the development of a city, a hundred years is enough to bring about earth-shaking changes.
Sun Wen West Road is not only the road of commercial civilization in Zhongshan, but also an important carrier of Zhongshan's urban spirit.
Aerial view of Sunwen West Road Pedestrian Street. South + Ye Zhiwen photographed
We pull the lens to the history of more than 100 years ago -
In 1894, the idea of "saving the country through commercial warfare and rejuvenating the country through industry" began to circulate, and its core idea was to attack the stereotype of light business and cheap businessmen, and advocate the trend of heavy business and etiquette. This theory is considered to have "had a profound impact on the history of modern Chinese thought and the development of commerce", and its proposer was named Zheng Guanying, whose ancestral home was Yongmo Village, Zhongshan.
In 1914, an Australian overseas Chinese came to Nanjing Road in Shanghai, and he chose a place in the area of Sunrise Tower to build The First Place Company, the largest department store in Shanghai, until 1917, when Shanghai saw the 6-storey building. According to historical records, this was the tallest building on Nanjing Road at that time, with more than 300 salesmen serving customers, leading the consumer fashion of Greater Shanghai at that time, which can be described as unlimited scenery. This Australian overseas Chinese was born in Shayong Township, Xiangshan County, a native of Shayong Village, Zhongshan City, and was named Ma Yingbiao.
In the following 12 years, Yong'an and Xinxin department stores were opened, and their founders, Guo Le, Guo Quan Brothers and Li Minzhou, were from the South District of Zhongshan City and shiqi District respectively.
After the opening of the daxin company, the fourth largest department store founded by Cai Chang in 1936, the legend of the "four major department stores" from Xiangshan County spread throughout the shanghai beach.
The pragmatic and change-seeking Zhongshan people have broken out of a commercial territory since modern times. These business wizards all come from one place, Zhongshan, Guangdong.
There are countless "Zhongshan Roads" in China, but there are not many Sun Wen Road, among which Sun Wen Road is the most famous in Zhongshan City, the hometown of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, which is also the earliest road in China to commemorate Dr. Sun Yat-sen.
This short pedestrian street of 529 meters was the commercial center of Zhongshan during the Republic of China period, and also witnessed the take-off of Zhongshan commerce since the reform and opening up. Regardless of the rise and fall of wind and rain, Sun Wen West Road has always been the glorious memory and beautiful nostalgia of Zhongshan people, which can always make newcomers feel fascinated, and looking at the Bay Area is a rare treasure.
The stone street leading from Ying'en Pavilion to the West Gate is called "Ying'en Street", and after the death of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, this road was officially named "Sun Wen Road". Dr. Sun Yat-sen once practiced medicine here, and the Sun Yat-sen Historical Trail runs through the pedestrian street.
Walking through the Pedestrian Street of SunWen West Road, we seem to be able to touch the soul of Zhongshan commerce, and the Nanyang Arcade buildings born in the 1920s and 1930s on both sides of the street silently tell the story of a century.
Among the arcades on Sunwen West Road Pedestrian Street, a pink building is very eye-catching. This is the location of the first commercial culture museum in mainland China, the Xiangshan Commercial Culture Museum.
Xiangshan Commercial Culture Museum. South + Ye Zhiwen photographed
Compared with the huge building, the stone stele at the entrance has several large characters of "Xiangshan Chamber of Commerce", which is the former site of the Xiangshan Chamber of Commerce, and this area has been known as "Little Hong Kong" in history. Its location later gave birth to one of the four major department stores in the early 20th century, one of the old Yong'an Company branch, Sihao Hotel and other well-known business cards, to this day, Sun Wen West Road Pedestrian Street still has a strong commercial atmosphere.
In April 1912, sun Yat-sen returned to his hometown to visit his relatives after resigning from his provisional presidency, invited by gentlemen and merchants, and once visited the Xiangshan Clubhouse for discussions, when the place where they were located was a leased address, and later a new chamber of commerce was built under the big temple.
In the process of strolling through the West Sun Wen Road Pedestrian Street, if it is just a commercial pedestrian street for shopping, it is a pity, here many urban cultural landscapes with deep roots are worth a glance, if you pay attention, you will "encounter" the old site of the Sihao Hotel, the old site of Yong'an Department Store, the old site of HSBC Company and other ancient buildings that have become cultural relics, these "old as ever" buildings are still counting the prosperous past of Sun Wen West Road, adding a unique cultural charm to the deep cultural heritage of Zhongshan.
At present, Zhongshan City proposes to do a good job in the big article of "cultural rejuvenation of the city", and clearly points out that it is necessary to build the Sun Wen West Road Historic District into a bright business card that tells the "story of the old city" and searches for the "memory of the old city", and becomes a place of spiritual watch for the majority of citizens and overseas villagers.
How to inject new blood into the century-old street and let it undertake the new mission of the new era is a problem worth thinking about.
Sun Wen West Road is a unique memory of Zhongshan people.
Whether it is watching the drunken dragon performance, listening to the saltwater song, watching the crane dance display, and appreciating the style of cultural treasures such as the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Zhongshan, or standing under the arcade building, while watching the architectural scenery, while admiring the models wearing Republican-style costumes integrated with the arcade, there is the past, present and future of Zhongshan.
As early as 2019, Shiqi Street in Zhongshan City launched the preliminary willingness survey of the Reconstruction and Upgrading Project (Phase I) of the Historical and Cultural Block of Sunwen West Road, and carried out the transformation on the basis of fully winning public opinion.
Sunwen West Road Pedestrian Street. South + Ye Zhiwen photographed
Since 2021, the leading group for the transformation and upgrading of Sunwen West Road Pedestrian Street has launched the micro-transformation of Sun Wen West Road, added a number of small street scenes with local characteristics such as "Courtesy to Zhongshan", and held a series of cultural tourism theme activities such as "Qiju Mid-Autumn Festival" and "Qifeng Prosperous Birthday". The implementation of the series of measures not only maintains the historical sense of Sunwen West Road Pedestrian Street, but also adds a fresh atmosphere to the pedestrian street.
According to the satisfaction survey and analysis of Sunwen West Road Pedestrian Street, in 2020, the total number of visitors to the pedestrian street was about 1.538 million, and 81.24% of tourists visited the neighborhood many times within a year and were willing to recommend the neighborhood to relatives and friends. The overall overall score is 96.77 points, and tourists' satisfaction with Sunwen West Road Pedestrian Street is also high.
In addition, in 2013, Zhongshan City built a new Nanyang style Xingzhong Square and the original Sun Wen West Road Pedestrian Street to form the Sun Wen West Road Cultural Tourism Pedestrian Street, which was later listed in the "Zhongshan Top Ten Cultural Business Cards". In 2015, Sun Wen West Road Cultural Tourism Pedestrian Street was selected as one of the first batch of Chinese historical and cultural blocks, and is the only pedestrian street in Guangdong Province to receive this honor. The core Zhongshan Shiqi Memorial Trail and the Xiangshan Modern Commercial Trail were selected as the first and second batch of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Cultural Heritage Trails respectively.
On December 11, 2021, Guo Wenhai, secretary of the Zhongshan Municipal Party Committee, went to Shiqi Street to investigate. He strolled on the pedestrian street of Sun Wen West Road and said emotionally when talking with the people: "This place is indeed very beautiful, and after I saw it, I would like to protect and use it well." ”
Guo Wenhai stressed that the Pedestrian Street area of Sun Wen West Road has retained the historical imprint of the city, carried the nostalgia of the city, and is a rare treasure land, and it is necessary to make up our minds to build this treasure land well, make it the spiritual home of Zhongshan people, and become the city business card of Zhongshan. It is necessary to protect, revitalize and make good use of unique historical and cultural relics, and create a historical and cultural commercial block with a heritage, atmosphere and vitality.
On the last day of 2021, Sun Wen West Road Pedestrian Street ushered in a new beginning.
Under the great temple of Sun Wen West Road, the cultural forum of "Building a City Business Card and Building a Spiritual Homeland - Sun Wen Road Starts Again" was launched in Sun Wen West Road Pedestrian Street, and the photography exhibition of "Starting from Sun Wenxi, Time Reset" and the photography forum of "The Fusion and Recording of Historical Buildings in Parallel Time and Space" also opened on the same day. These activities revolve around a theme, that is, to build the Pedestrian Area of Sun Wen West Road into the spiritual home of Zhongshan people and the urban cultural business card of Zhongshan City.
Cui Xianghong, general manager of Guangdong South 289 Cultural Industry Investment Co., Ltd. South + Ye Zhiwen photographed
At the opening ceremony of the forum on the same day, Cui Xianghong, general manager of Guangdong South 289 Cultural Industry Investment Co., Ltd., the operation and management of Sun WenXi Road, said: "We will make greater contributions to building Sun Wenxi Road into the spiritual home of Zhongshan people and the city card of Zhongshan City." ”
The sonorous and powerful voice shows people's determination to build Zhongshan and protect the memory of Zhongshan City. In fact, around this theme, Zhongshan has done a lot of work and made a lot of sounds.
The report of the 15th Party Congress of Zhongshan City stressed that in the next 5 years, the Zhongshan Municipal Party Committee and the Zhongshan Municipal Government will work together to polish the golden signboard of the national historical and cultural city, write a good article on cultural rejuvenation, continue to implement the "strong center" project, accelerate the renewal of the old city, and retain urban memory and beautiful nostalgia.
Building the Sunwen West Road block into a city business card and a place of spiritual watch, Shiqi Street has a unique advantage. "Shiqi Street will implement the work arrangements of the municipal party committee and the municipal government, make sufficient 'embroidery' efforts, promote the transformation and upgrading of the historical district of Sun Wen West Road with greater intensity and at a deeper level, and build Sun Wen West Road into a cultural and commercial tourism integration development agglomeration area that can retain the historical imprint and touch the pulse of the times, so that it will become a bright business card in Zhongshan and even the Greater Bay Area." Lao Guonan, secretary of the Party Working Committee of Shiqi Subdistrict in Zhongshan City, said.
Lao Guonan, secretary of the Party Working Committee of Shiqi Subdistrict. South + Ye Zhiwen photographed
Liang Shilun, deputy to the People's Congress of Guangdong Province, president of the Zhongshan Economic Research Institute, and president of the Zhongshan Reform and Development Research Association, is also very concerned about the development and protection of the Pedestrian Street of Sunwen West Road. He suggested: "Promote the transformation of overseas Chinese cultural heritage resources into cultural tourism resources, fully excavate the era value of historical and cultural blocks such as Sunwen West Road Pedestrian Street, integrate architectural and cultural resources such as Zhongshan Diaolou and Qilou, create a 'Bay Area Republic of China Cultural Block', drive the development of Zhongshan cultural tourism industry, and cultivate new growth points in the cultural tourism industry." ”
The end of the year has come and the beginning of the new year.
The future story of Sun Wen West Road Pedestrian Street still needs to be written by generations of Zhongshan people.
【Writing】Nanfang Daily trainee reporter Yuan Shimin
【Photo】 Nanfang Daily reporter Ye Zhiwen
【Author】 Yuan Shimin; Ye Zhiwen
【Source】 Southern Press Media Group South + client
Source: South+ - Create more value