Wuxi Chronicles today
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Zhuangyuanlou Restaurant</h1>
Zhuangyuanlou Restaurant is one of the famous restaurants in Wuxi. In the spring of 1919, Lin Qinxuan, who had been working as a partner in Zhu Fuxing Noodle Shop, used his years of savings and the support of relatives and friends to rent a two-bay house in Lianrong Bridge Outside the North Gate, and opened a Changchun Pavilion Noodle Shop, which had thirteen tables, mainly three fresh noodles and large meat steamed buns, and sold tea in the morning and pot soup for bathing at night. In November 1937, the store was burned down by the Japanese and left in ruins. In 1938, Lin Qinxuan got acquainted with politicians and acted as a patron, with Qingfeng Textile Factory Lu Guishan, silk cocoon broker Zhu Binglian and other joint stock collection of 4,500 yuan (seven yuan per stone meter price), in situ to renovate a building with a three-bay façade, wanting to be unique in the industry for the newly opened restaurant, in order to attract the feast business, to cater to the customer's joy and auspicious psychology, named Zhuangyuanlou Restaurant, the black background gold sign at the entrance of the store, is to ask the Wujin calligrapher Tang Camel to write, the hall is a hehe two immortals in the middle hall. Two hump rooms are set on both sides, which can be used by men and women for marriage applications, and there are three hump rooms upstairs, and a total of twenty-four tables are placed in the upper and lower halls, all of which can be set up with round countertops.
The restaurant is located in a commercial downtown area, and the opening still maintains the characteristics of cooked noodles and tea houses. In the morning, mountain goods stores, merchants in various markets climbed the stairs to eat tea and eat snacks, the bosses of the manufacturers in the middle and evening markets accompanied the guests, set up banquets and receptions crowded the upper and lower halls, and when they encountered the festive feast held on the auspicious day of the zodiac, the lights were colorful, the distinguished guests were full of doors, the banquets were full of punches, guessing fists, laughter, and liveliness all day. Usually, the gentry and rich households inside and outside the city hold a feast for their children (full moon) or a feast of the Ji Shi (Zhou Dynasty), and they all like to hold it in the Zhuangyuan Building, hoping that their children and grandchildren will be like The Yuanlang in the future, step by step, the red luck is high, resulting in the business of the restaurant becoming more and more prosperous and prosperous.
After 1946, in view of the soaring prices, Lu and Zhu had no intention of operating and split up the shares, which was solely owned by Lin Qinxuan. On December 22 of the same year, it was renamed ZhuangyuanLou Qinji, and hired two famous chefs, Ni Heting and Gao Qinxiang, who were famous at that time, to cook SuXi-style dishes, which greatly enhanced the reputation of the restaurant, and some praised it as "water and land transportation Lotus Rong Bridge, thousands of merchants gathered in Zhuangyuanlou".
Zhuangyuanlou Restaurant cooks SuXi-style dishes, famous dishes include Nun'an gluten, steamed stone duck, old roasted fish, Sixi gluten, chicken sauce braised four treasures, butterfly sea cucumber, crisp eel, soft eel, braised shrimp, white soup crucian carp, cream hoof tendon, popcorn and other more than 10 kinds.
In January 1956, it was a public-private partnership, and in 1968 it was changed to a public building restaurant. The original store name was restored in 1981. Rebuilt in the late 1990s on Oufeng Street on Qingshi Road, it is richly decorated with halls and elegant seats, which can accommodate 1,000 people at the same time. Innovative dishes include soft fried tenderloin, spoon shrimp, hibiscus chicken balls, whole mushroom chicken balls, sail lotus crab, glass chicken and so on.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > YingbinLou Restaurant</h1>
In the 19th year of the Republic of China, Li Wenyu, Shen Yunqing and others jointly raised funds to build a Yingbinlou restaurant on the west side of the mountain gate of Chong'an Temple, and specially hired Liu Junying, a famous chef from Wuxi, a East Asian restaurant of Shanghai Xianshi Company, to return to Xi to take charge of the kitchen, which opened for business on March 3. The restaurant can be full of Han seats, Liu Junying is good at the famous dishes such as crab powder shark fin, lotus peony, chicken egg, Luohan whole duck, anchovy pigeon egg, snow white mandarin duck, Guangzhou crucian carp, jinyu mantang and so on.
After the liberation of Wuxi, the Yingbin Building was lightly opened and closed in 1954. In September 1959, invested by the Chong'an District Commerce Bureau, the Yingbin Building resumed business on its original site. During the Cultural Revolution, the restaurant was renamed the Red Guard Hotel, and after the end of the Cultural Revolution, its original name was restored. In December 1978, it moved to the third floor and fourth floor of the Renmin Road Vegetable Farm Building for business. On the third floor, the restaurant area is 1251 square meters, with 72 square tables, 27 round tables, and a western restaurant room.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Chinese hotel</h1>
In the 35th year of the Republic of China, Mao Zhongyin and others raised funds to rent land on Hanchang Road to build a house, and prepared to build a Chinese hotel, the foundation lease period was 12 years, the rent was not paid during the lease period, and the property returned to the foundation owner after the expiration of the term. In June 1936, the hotel department was completed, with an exterior of 4 floors, a 3-story interior, a hall downstairs, and 80 rooms upstairs. In August, the China Hotel was officially opened, with a hotel department and a music tea room department, with 108 employees. The music tea room department was poorly managed, and it was closed after 2 months, and the house was rented out and re-established as a Chinese restaurant with 232 seats. Chinese restaurant waiters (i.e. waiters) have strict service standards and must wear white clothes (overalls) when working. On the eve of the liberation of Wuxi, the owner of the restaurant department fled Shanghai with funds. After liberation, the restaurant department was supported by the self-organization of employees such as Fei Xiangsheng (chef). Soon, the China Hotel was designated by the Southern Jiangsu Administrative Office as a conference accommodation, and the restaurant department contracted the meals of meeting representatives, and the business improved slightly.
In June 1951, the Wuxi Municipal Bureau of Finance invested 213.75 tons of rice to acquire all the housing assets of the China Hotel, and in October, it was changed to a local state-run Chinese Hotel. In November 1953, guest meals were served, with 1 soup (blood soup) per guest, and until the rice was full, the guests often lined up in long lines. In 1965, the China Hotel was expanded.
In May 1970, Chinese hotels increased the supply of white porridge and flower rolls early. In 1972, the banquet and traditional dishes were restored, and a new restaurant was opened on the second floor, adding foreign dishes, reducing the starting point, and implementing the popularization of famous dishes, and the small hall on the first floor was changed to a fast food restaurant. In 1975, the China Hotel was expanded again, and after the expansion, it was expanded into a 6-story building with a total area of 6748 square meters.
In 1977, Chinese hotels resumed their traditional service methods, with a turnover of 877,500 yuan and a profit of 29,900 yuan, of which the turnover of the restaurant department was 667,700 yuan and the profit was 14,900 yuan. In 1979, the dim sum department increased the supply of cold drinks, further restored the traditional varieties, and absorbed the flavor characteristics of Sichuan, Guangdong, Yang and other gang dishes. The hotel has 12 famous dishes, including gold-encrusted tofu, yellow mud simmered chicken, almond kudzu powder buns, Liangxi crispy eels, Taihu lake sautéed chicken, longan eel slices, crispy silver fish, mother oil golden chicken, longan big jade, dragon and phoenix legs, as well as spicy tofu, fish flavored meat shreds, and green onion oil that absorb the flavors of Sichuan and Cantonese cuisine. Some foreign guests and overseas Chinese often want to eat at Chinese hotels in Xichang, and in 1981, they received 10,000 foreign guests and overseas Chinese.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Taishan Hotel</h1>
In the 36th year of the Republic of China, Taishan Hotel was rebuilt from the side stack of the Gongyun Bridge, with a construction area of 1700 square meters, complete sanitary facilities in the store, complete hot and cold water and telephone switchboards, and opened a Taihu Hall restaurant and dance hall, then known as Wuxi's first-class resting place.
In 1958, the Taihu Hall restaurant was converted into a tourist canteen, and in 1959, a male and female bathroom was built. In 1984, the hotel renovated the façade, divided the rooms, added televisions, European sofas, etc., and restored the Taihu Restaurant. In 1985, the hotel had 88 employees, 109 guest rooms, 441 beds, a turnover of 532,200 yuan and a profit of 261,000 yuan.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > The Wuxi Barbershop</h1>
In November 1959, Wuxi BarberShop was newly built at the intersection of Renmin Middle Road Jiankang Road, covering an area of 228.9 square meters, with 30 employees, most of whom were from the former Nanjing BarberShop in Wuxi, and some were selected from the industry. The store has 26 iron seats, 2 electric iron presses, and 12 big blow dryers, which are divided into men's and women's rooms, and are the only special-grade stores in Wuxi. Most of the service targets are intellectuals, actors, young people and non-local people.
During the Cultural Revolution, the Wuxi BarberShop was closed for half a year, and the women's department was changed to the hotel department. The Women's Department was reinstated in 1977. The store was renovated in 1978 and reopened in January 1981. After the renovation, the shop hall has a grinding stone floor and marble walls, elegant furnishings, equipped with 11 male and female seats, and a beauty room. There are 28 employees, one-third of whom have technical titles, of which 2 are provincial-level special barbers. Wuxi Barbershop focuses on technology, and hairdressing technicians from Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin and the province and Japan often come here to communicate. In 1985, the turnover of Wuxi BarberShop was 115,000 yuan and the profit was 20,000 yuan.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Wuxi bathroom</h1>
Wuxi Bathroom was built in the winter of 1959 on Xueqian Street, covering an area of 1425 square meters and a construction area of 2738 square meters. There are 6 service halls and 3 baths in the bathroom, 284 long pits in the men's department, 6 baths in the women's department, and 24 pot soups in total. With a turnover of 50,300 yuan that year, it is a famous large bathroom on the Shanghai-Nanjing line. There is also a distilled water plant. Bathroom services are complete, the traditional projects include back rubbing, pedicure, knocking back, foot pinching, massage, etc., in addition to washing fast clothes, polishing shoes, haircuts, commissaries on behalf of customers to buy snacks and make tea.
During the Cultural Revolution, traditional projects disappeared and the quality of service declined. After 1976, the traditional service project was gradually restored, 2 "new windmills" were equipped, the elderly, the sick and the disabled were regularly transported to bathe, and the herbal soup medicinal bath was added around the Dragon Boat Festival.
In 1983, Wuxi Bathroom expanded its business area, with a construction area of 6954 square meters after expansion, 432 pits for men's departments, 46 pot soups for men and women, 23 showers, and the addition of Zhongnan Hotel. In 1984, the Four Seasons Hall was added, dealing in hot and cold drinks, tea bonsai and so on. In 1985, Wuxi Bathroom had 127 employees, with a turnover of 595,400 yuan and a profit of 109,900 yuan.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Lake Light Photo Gallery</h1>
Lake Light Photo Gallery was formerly known as Ji shi photo gallery. In April 28, the Republic of China was opened at the intersection of Park Road, with 7 employees, 1 storefront, 1 electric light photography field, and a daylight photography field. The photo studio is exquisitely decorated, the technical equipment is excellent, and often hires famous teachers from Shanghai to teach technology to tin, the staff in the store strive for excellence in business technology, and set up their own radio for advertising, and some film and drama stars come to the museum to take photos.
After the public-private partnership in the mid-1950s, G&S Photo Studio gradually developed color photography, adding a reservation business and a photography business for industrial machinery, textile products, and craft advertising. After 1960, more than 130 works by Kris Photo Gallery were selected for film festivals at all levels. In 1962, the Gies Photo Studio was renamed lake light photo gallery. In 1965, the storehouse was expanded to 3 facades with 2 floors, and the number of photography studios was increased to 4.
In 1975, it purchased new domestic machinery and equipment. In 1983, the Lake Light Photo Gallery rated 1 photographer of the special second class and one special third class photographer each. In 1984, kodak assembly line expansion equipment (worth 400,000 yuan) was imported from Shenzhen, and Japanese Nikon and Mamia portrait lenses were purchased, and 1 photography studio was added to expand the color photo business.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Shen Guangmao washing and dyeing shop</h1>
Thirty-four years of Qing Guangxu (1908), Suzhou Shen Guangmao Washing and Dyeing Shop to Wuxi to open Shen Guangmao Washing and Dyeing Factory, the factory site in front of The Bamboo Lane, business area of 150 square meters, 19 employees, specially for the silk village processing and dyeing of the whole batch of silk, green and old cloth. The washing and dyeing factory set up an old Zhenghe washing and dyeing branch shop in Victory Gate, and in the 11th year of the Republic of China, it set up a New washing and dyeing branch shop in the alley of the academy, and at the same time added a single-frame finisher and steam pot. Later, the washing and dyeing factory was changed to a washing and dyeing shop. Shen Guangmao washing and dyeing shop pays attention to credibility, stable quality, flexible service methods, and its business has always been the top in the same industry.
In 1959, Shen Guangmao moved to Zhongshan Road to open its doors, and its business projects include washing, dyeing, ironing, weaving silk, wool, cloth and finished clothing, as well as washing glue on raincoats and whitening sheepskin. In 1962, he set up a sub-factory Zhenhua Dyeing Factory.
At the beginning of the "Cultural Revolution", the dyeing business was mainly grass green and red. After 1970, the number of chemical fiber fabrics increased, and Shen Guangmao sent a total of 22 employees to Shanghai Zhengzhang Washing and Dyeing Shop and Suzhou Taihu Lake Washing and Dyeing Shop to learn the washing, dyeing, ironing and weaving of chemical fibers, and added washing machines and ironing machines.
In 1985, Shen Guangmao placed a steam ironing machine for 1 set. By the end of the year, Shen Guangmao washing and dyeing shop has 5 facades, 280 square meters, and 13 employees. In addition to dyeing (more than 10 kinds), the main business is washing, with a turnover of 53,800 yuan and a profit of 11,600 yuan in the year.
(Most of the photos in this column choose "City Rings")