On April 26th, the lights were on, and the ancient town of Aokigawa was particularly lively. Qi Minglei's grilled fish restaurant is full of diners, all of whom come here to taste the local specialties.
"I am a native of Qingmuchuan Village, Qingmuchuan Town, Ningqiang County, and I returned to my hometown in 2009 to start a business, and I was one of the first people to open a restaurant here. Qi Minglei said.
More than ten years have passed, and the passenger flow of Qingmuchuan Ancient Town has become larger and larger, and Qi Minglei's grilled fish restaurant has expanded from more than a dozen square meters to more than 400 square meters.
From the legendary ancient town that is "raised in the depths of the boudoir and unknown to the popular scenic spots" where villagers can eat "tourist meals", people can only feel the charm of the ancient town of Aokigawa "breaking into a butterfly" by strolling through it.
Located in Ningqiang County, at the junction of Shaanxi, Gansu and Sichuan provinces, Aokichuan Town was founded in the middle of the Ming Dynasty and formed in the late Qing Dynasty, with a history of more than 500 years. There are 3 national-level cultural relics protection units including Wei's Mansion, Qingmuchuan Old Street Complex, and Guqiang Cemetery, 2 provincial-level cultural relics protection units of Furen Middle School and Qujia Compound, as well as many well-preserved ancient villages, ancient ancestral halls, ancient plank roads, ancient trees, and ancient wells......
"The architectural style of Aokichuan Ancient Town has both western Sichuan and Guanzhong styles, and some of the buildings of the Republic of China also reflect the characteristics of a combination of Chinese and Western styles, which is of great ornamental value. These buildings designed and built with strong Qinba local characteristics in combination with the natural and cultural conditions of southern Shaanxi constitute the unique ancient building culture of Aoki River. Zhou Jing, chairman and general manager of Shaanxi Qingmuchuan Ancient Town Tourism Development Co., Ltd., said.
Overlooking the Huilong Pavilion, you can see the ancient town of Aokigawa at a glance. Built in the Ming Dynasty in the Chenghua period of more than 800 meters long Huilongchang ancient street, businessmen gathered, crowded; the largest and most complete preserved building complex in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China in southern Shaanxi, the Wei family house, the bucket arch cornices, blue bricks and tiles, showing the beauty of vicissitudes.
In 2014, the TV series "Generation of Heroes" adapted from "Aoki River" made Aoki River famous. At that time, the ticket revenue of the scenic spot alone reached several million yuan.
"At that time, the town's facilities were not perfect. In order to solve the problem of accommodation for tourists, we have put forward the initiative of 'one room is vacated for each family, and one bed is given up for each person'. The local people are very cooperative and have given up their houses to tourists. Zhou Jing said.
Today, there are 110 specialty catering and snack shops, 105 hotels and characteristic homestays, and 70 tourism characteristic commodity operators in the Qingmuchuan Ancient Town Scenic Area, with a maximum carrying capacity of 25,000 people. In 2023, the scenic spot will receive more than 2 million tourists, with a comprehensive tourism income of more than 1 billion yuan.
In accordance with the principle of "protection first, gathering the form and revealing the soul", Aokichuan Town has meticulously implemented the protection and restoration projects of cultural relics and historic sites, historical buildings and traditional houses, repaired the ancient buildings in the core area to ensure the authenticity of the cultural relics and historic sites, and maintained harmony and unity in the shape, height, volume, color and style of the new and renovated buildings outside the core area, so as to build the new as the old.
In recent years, the government has invested 487 million yuan to implement the restoration of ancient buildings such as Wei's Mansion, Huilongchang Old Street, Qujia Compound, Dry Boat House, Furen Drama Society, as well as Xinjie Residences, Building Antique Packaging, Scenic Pipeline Burial and other projects, creating a number of characteristic tourism projects, showing the characteristics of antique and ancient charm in an all-round way. Gao Jinlong, Secretary of the Party Committee of Aokichuan Town, said.
In addition to tangible cultural heritage such as ancient buildings, the Aoki River is also rich in intangible cultural heritage. Since ancient times, the Aoki River has been a place where the Qiang and Han people live together, where the Qiang culture, the squire culture, and the Bashu culture are blended, and the intangible cultural heritage such as Nu opera and Qiang embroidery is rich, and the stories of celebrities are well-known......
"During the May Day holiday, Aokigawa launched a series of traditional folk culture performances, as well as large-scale light shows, drone shows and other performances, so that traditional culture and modern trends can gather in the ancient town, so that more tourists can enter the ancient town and fall in love with the ancient town. Zhou Jing said. (Reporter Yang Luya)
On April 29th, night fell, Shiquan Qinba Old Street was crowded with people and lively.
Tourists may stroll on the quaint bluestone pavement to appreciate the style of the ancient streets, or listen to the melodious singing with the river breeze outside the West Gate, or feel the infinite charm of folk performances in the neighborhood...... Between the blue bricks and gray tiles, the old alleys of the ancient houses, the ancient charm is still the same, and the "fireworks" are thick.
Brick by brick, street by alley, tell the story of time. Shiquan Qinba Old Street is located in the central area of Shiquan County, was built in the Western Wei Dynasty, rebuilt in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the main street is about 1000 meters long, about 4 meters wide, there are 6 provincial-level cultural relics protection units such as Yuwang Palace and Jiangxi Hall in the block, there are ancient buildings of the Ming and Qing dynasties such as the East and West City Gate, the ancient county ya, the ancient laneway, the ancient courtyard, the ancient dwellings, etc. Historically, it was a prosperous and wealthy commercial street where merchants gathered.
"In the early years, due to disrepair, Qinba Old Street gradually declined and declined. Not to mention tourists, the residents of the old street are trying to move out. Chen Chen, deputy director of the Shiquan County All-for-One Tourism Development Center, introduced that in recent years, Shiquan County has continued to transform and upgrade the "one street and sixteen lanes" of the old street in accordance with the construction concept of "inheriting the historical context, retaining the ancient charm and nostalgia, grasping the regional characteristics, and promoting the integration of industry and city", and actively explored the "tourism +" industry development model, so that Qinba Old Street has become a beautiful cultural and tourism business card while retaining its historical culture and characteristics.
Complete the renovation work of Yuwang Palace, Jiangxi Guild Hall, Guandi Temple, ancient city gate, ancient opera building, ancient courtyard, etc., carry out antique façade renovation of modern buildings, and carry out supporting infrastructure transformation and upgrading and streetscape beautification and greening...... After a series of protective development and restoration, the antique Qinba Old Street and the natural scenery on both sides of the Han River complement each other, becoming a new choice for citizens and tourists for leisure sightseeing and cultural tourism consumption.
"Today, I ate the stone pot fish, watched the characteristic folk performances, and experienced the ancient charm while also feeling the strong 'fireworks', which was so surprising. On April 29, Liu Juan, a tourist from Weinan who took photos in front of the cultural wall of Qinba Old Street, told reporters.
Han tune Erhuang, shadow puppet play, dragon and lion dance, "Guiguzi" down the mountain to welcome the five blessings...... Tourists who travel along the neighborhood may "bump into each other" with characteristic folk cultural performances at any time.
"The most popular among tourists is the provincial intangible cultural heritage stone spring fire lion show. Yang Dan, a commentator of Qinba Old Street, said that the fire lion sometimes jumps in the air, sometimes chases and plays, conveying good wishes for good luck, and the atmosphere is very warm every time it is performed.
Shiquan County is rich in historical and cultural resources, and is known as the "hometown of Guiguzi" and "the hometown of golden silkworms". In the process of construction and development, Qinba Old Street adheres to the concept of cultural and plastic tourism and cultural tourism, deeply excavates Guiguzi culture, Hanshui culture and sericulture to carry out characteristic activities, enhance the experience of tourists, and rejuvenate traditional culture.
In Qinba Old Street, you can see tourists dressed in Hanfu everywhere. People in the scenery have also become beautiful scenery.
In 2021, Fu Duoduo, the person in charge of the Shiquan Liangchen Huafu Experience Center, moved the Hanfu studio to Qinba Old Street. When there are many customers, the studio can do makeup for more than 200 visitors a day.
"The antique old streets, the beautiful scenery of the Han River and the Hanfu are very adaptable, and they are very good at hand. Hanfu and Hanshui culture have attracted more and more people's attention and love. Fu Duoduo said.
The old buildings and old blocks are the scenery in the eyes of outsiders, and they are also the nostalgia in the memories of hometown people. The continuous renovation and upgrading of Qinba Old Street has made the original residents more livable and brought them new development opportunities. In recent years, Qinba Old Street has improved its infrastructure and living environment, revitalized old houses such as idle courtyards and street-facing shops, created a new scene of cultural tourism consumption experience, and realized "host and guest sharing".
After living in Qinba Old Street for more than 30 years, Liu Shiyuan, Secretary of the Party Branch of the Old Town Community of Chengguan Town, Shiquan County, witnessed the "decline" and "rebirth" here.
"Living in the old street now is convenient and comfortable. Lao Cai is very popular, some of them rent out their houses, some start their own small businesses, and take advantage of the 'east wind' of Lao Cai's development to live a better life. Liu Shiyuan said that the residents of the community have formed a cultural and art troupe, and in their spare time, they bring folk music, wind music, waist drums, cheongsam catwalks and other performances to tourists in the old street.
Today, while retaining the nostalgia of the ancient rhyme, Qinba Old Street covers a variety of formats such as cultural creativity, special catering, leisure and entertainment, homestay courtyards, intangible cultural heritage exhibition halls, etc., and has opened more than 160 shops of various types. Qinba Old Street has been selected as a national tourism and leisure block and a national night culture and tourism consumption cluster.
The cultural context is endless, and the city is more charming. The crowded and smoky Qinba Old Street tells the vivid story of protection and utilization, and the use of protection promotes protection, and interprets the infinite possibility of the integration and symbiosis of history, culture and modern life. (Reporter Dong Jiannan, Qi Keyu)