Huizhou Old Streets 

cctv.com 01-26-2005 14:02

We'd probably never obtain a true picture of the history, but it's a perpetual theme that intrigues us mankind. Where to look for the links between past and present? Well, it's relatively an easier task in some places that the others. Welcome to ancient Huizhou area, where you can easily visualize its heyday from 400 years ago just strolling along its old street, picturesque countryside, and enchanting villages. Welcome to the Street Special of Travelogue!

Mainly referring to the hilly terrains at the southern tip of today's Anhui Province, Huizhou area has long been considered a living museum of Chinese Ming and Qing folk history stretching for over 500 years.

For centuries, limited farmland drove local people to go all out for survival, bringing about the legendary success of Hui merchants who dominated Chinese business world up until the 19th century.

The huge amount of wealth accumulated by Hui merchants transformed into numerous townships, markets, docks and villages, most of them remain intact sheltered by the hilly terrains.

Laojie, literally meaning Old Street in Chinese, and it's definitely the oldest street in whole city. First came into being as the distribution center of the whole area for all kinds of goods, the street has been weathered through the vicissitudes of time for over 700 years.

Flanked by over 200 stores, Laojie runs for about 1000 meters east to west on a flagstone pavement just like when it was first built.

No longer a thriving distribution center, it now serves as one of the tourist attractions in Huangshan city, the largest city in Huizhou area.

Don't just shun away at the word "tourist attraction" yet, comparing to a lot of cheap copies of ancient streets in other parts of the country, Laojie has more redeeming factors than you'd expected.

For example, a hot bowl of wonton from a portable wonton stand, a local fast food tradition passed down from way back. The efficient design of the stand is called Xu Xiake style, named after the greatest traveler of Ming Dynasty.