The earliest pigeon market in Beijing was in the east of the north section of Wangfujing Avenue, north of Dengshikou Street, and north of xiaoli pigeon market, which is now Xiaoli Pigeon Hutong. To the south is the city of Big Oriole Pigeon, which is now the Big Bird Pigeon Alley.
The "Old News and New Evidence" and "Yanjing Chronicle" record: The Kyoshi has many good pigeons, and there are many types, and its ordinary ones are points, jade wings, crested white, two-headed black, small ash, soap, purple sauce, snowflakes, silver tails, four pieces of jade, magpie flowers, heel flowers, necks, Taoist hats, inverted ridges and other bright colors. Its precious ones are short-billed, egret, white aconitum, iron bull, green hair, crane show, toad eye gray, seven stars, back, copper back, hemp back, silver, unicorn, spot, cloud disk, blue disk, parrot mouth, white parrot point, purple bird, purple dot, purple jade wing, bird head, iron wing, jade ring and other bright colors. When the pigeons are released, they will be decorated with a bamboo whistle on the tail, which is called a gourd, also called a whistle. Gourds are divided into sizes, and whistles have triads, fives, eleven eyes, thirteen stars, double barrels, cutouts, and stars holding the moon. When circling, the sound resounds through the clouds and the five tones are ready, which can be pleasant to the ear. Beijingers have a long history of pigeons. In the early days of liberation, on the best days of spring and autumn, from time to time there were groups of pigeons with whistles flying in the sky, and the clear whistle, far and near, sounded pleasant.
At the time of the Cultural Revolution, the four olds were broken, and the pigeons were also forbidden to breed. In the late 1970s of the Cultural Revolution, there were sporadic pigeon markets in Longtan Lake, Fuxingmen, Chaoyangmen, Madian, and Beishatan. Usually they get together on weekends to buy and sell pigeons and discuss the fun of pigeons.
With the deepening of reform and opening up, the urban area of Beijing has continued to expand, and the edge of the city in the past has become the city center. In particular, the number of fanciers who keep domestic pigeons is gradually decreasing, and the pigeon racing has become a sport, and now the loft race and the tabby ring race are in full swing, the prize money is also rising, and the pigeon trade is basically carried out online and at auction.
With the passage of time, the pigeon market in Beijing has also left a good memory for many pigeon breeders.