Appreciation of Lingtai Ancient City

Daming Pagoda, Department Store, People's Theatre, old photos witness the 70-year changes of the ancient city of Northwest China. Qin Yulong/Wen's Wooden House Street in Pingliang Town before liberation-Zhongshan Bridge, one of the landmark buildings in Pingliang City in the 1940s and 1950s, was built in Pingliang Bali Bridge during the Republic of China. On July 30th, 1949, the main force of the First Field Army entered Pingliang City and announced the liberation of Pingliang. After beginning of autumn, the night view of Pingliang City in Gansu Province is very beautiful, with bright lights and high-rise buildings along the water mirror river. Citizens strolling along Binhe Road and city parks enjoy a comfortable, cool and cozy life. Looking through the yellowed old photos taken in the last century, we can see that Pingliang City is a basic scene with narrow area, narrow streets, low tile houses and farmland around it. Pingliang people at that time lived in such a remote and backward Longdong town. According to the records of Pingliang District, from 65438 to 0949, the total area of Pingliang City was only 1.7 square kilometers, and the urban population was more than 30,000. 70 years later, in 20 19, Pingliang central area, which is intertwined with road network and high-rise buildings, has expanded to 42 square kilometers, and the urban population has reached 530,900. Speaking of landmark buildings, Pingliang City before and after the liberation of the last century, what we can see in the image data so far is not only the towering Daming Pagoda in the east of the city, but also the 70-year-old Zhongshan Bridge, the old Bali Bridge, the old gatehouse, the old department store and the old people's theater. Especially in the 40 years of reform and opening up, Pingliang city is changing and buildings are changing. Nowadays, some of the original landmarks have disappeared, and some are still there, just in a different way. Pingliang City Wall and Daming Pagoda photographed before liberation. Daming Pagoda, the most impressive building in Pingliang's nearly 500-year historical image, is the pagoda standing in the east of the city, except for the majestic four doors. The city walls and gates no longer exist, but the pagoda still stands proudly. Pagoda, also known as Yan 'en Temple Pagoda, is also known as Daming Pagoda because it was built in the Ming Dynasty, with a history of about 500 years. For hundreds of years, Daming Pagoda, located on the tower beam outside Madaomen in the east of the city, as a landmark building of Pingliang City, fully embodies the artistic style of the Ming Dynasty stupa, echoing the volley tower of Kongtong Mountain from a distance, and is called the "double-walled ancient pagoda" of Pingliang. "Huaiyin Ancient Pagoda" (also known as "Shadow of the Ancient Pagoda") is known as one of the eight scenic spots in Pingliang, which is talked about by scholars in ancient and modern times. Pingliang East Gate and Pagoda before liberation. Before liberation, the Daming Pagoda photographed by journalists or missionaries of the Republic of China in the 1920s and 1930s was always the most striking building in Pingliang. It stands high in the east of the city, overlooking the 500-year vicissitudes of the city and the changes of the world. According to records, this black-and-white photo was taken in the 1930s, apparently by the photographer standing on the high ground outside Pingliang. Judging from the scenery, the photos are probably taken in winter and spring, and the nearby fields and distant mountains are desolate. At that time, the city wall was still intact, and the pagoda stood tall inside the city wall and could be seen dozens of miles away, making it stand out from the crowd. During the Republic of China, the floor and stairs in the tower were destroyed and it was impossible to climb, and the tower courtyard became a barracks. Feng Yuxiang once founded a military academy here to train anti-Japanese soldiers, and all the ancillary buildings were demolished. In 1950s, there were many earthquakes of magnitude above 7.0 in Pingliang, in which the sixth and seventh floors of the pagoda cracked by 8 to 10 cm, and the pagoda was knocked down. After liberation, there used to be schools or offices here. 1963 was listed as a provincial cultural relics protection unit by the province. Today, a corner of Pingliang Pagoda Park. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the location of Daming Pagoda has been a famous scenic spot in Pingliang, with numerous tourists. 1983, Pingliang Regional Museum was established here, and it was renamed Pingliang Museum after the city was established. 1985, Gansu Provincial Department of Culture allocated a special fund of 654.38 million yuan to repair the stupa. In recent years, it has invested a huge sum of money to completely transform the environmental facilities of Pagoda Beam, and built a Pagoda Park integrating historical relics, tourism and leisure, which is open to the public free of charge. In 2006, the tower was announced by the State Council as the sixth batch of national key cultural relics protection units. This year, Pingliang Museum moved to a new location and became Pingliang Art Museum. As one of the important witnesses of Pingliang city and cultural construction, this royal pagoda has overlooked Pingliang city for 500 years. In the 40 years of reform and opening up, urban construction is changing with each passing day, and there are many high-rise buildings. Now Daming Pagoda in Pingliang City is looking up. Although it is still one of the landmark buildings in Pingliang, it is not the only height of the city. The completion of Daming Pagoda witnessed the 70-year changing history of Pingliang central city construction. The landmark department store in Pingliang in the 1970s. Department stores, the new Xinmin Road in the city business circle, have been playing a special role in Pingliang. It is not only the most prosperous business district in this city, but also the depression of this city. The building in the black-and-white photo is Pingliang Department Store, which was built in 1970s. It is located on Xinmin Road. This building is five stories high. It was the tallest building in Pingliang at that time, and it was also one of the landmark buildings. Looking back before and after the liberation of Pingliang, we can see from the photos of the celebration ceremony after * * * entered the city and some old photos preserved in the archives that Pingliang City in the early days of liberation was full of low bungalows except a three-story building on Jiefang Road, a Chunhua Building on Xinmin Road and Daming Pagoda, which stood tall in the east of the city. Commercial shops on Jiefang Road in 1960s and 1970s. Yang Guosheng, an 86-year-old citizen, recalled that the department store was the largest comprehensive department store in the region at that time, dealing in large and small department stores, hardware, knitwear, non-staple food, as well as clothing, shoes and hats, stationery, hardware and electrical appliances, bicycles and so on. There are all kinds of goods and customers, and they are all bought by ticket. In the era of planned economy, especially in the period of material shortage, department stores have made great contributions to the material security of Pingliang people. After the reform and opening-up, with the market economy gradually developing in depth and restricted by various objective conditions, Pingliang department store is declining step by step in the fierce market competition. 1996, a new commercial building opened opposite the department store. A few years later, the department store became a shopping plaza. After entering the 2 1 century, many large shopping malls and supermarkets have been built around the old department store, which are bigger, more upscale and more complete than the old department store in terms of mall scale, commodity grade and business varieties. Today, the shopping plaza on the former site of Pingliang old department store. In recent years, with the continuous expansion of Pingliang city construction, the central business district is gradually moving northward. The commercial atmosphere along Liu Hu Road, Greenland Square and Guangcheng Road is getting stronger and stronger, which is likely to replace Xinmin Road. However, the once brilliant old department store still stands in the memory of many Pingliang people. South Gate Cross People's Theatre was built in 1950s. People's Theatre, the spiritual highland of citizens, it is hard for Pingliang people today to imagine what kind of amateur cultural life Pingliang people will have in the first half of last century. At that time, there was no TV, no internet, and even listening to the radio and watching movies were forms of entertainment for a few people. It is estimated that catching up with temple fairs and watching dramas was the only spiritual enjoyment of most Pingliang people at that time. According to historical records, Pingliang people first saw movies in 1937. A tour group from Xi brought the film to Pingliang for the first time. After the liberation of Pingliang, the military film team released battlefield documentaries such as "Liberation of Shijiazhuang" and "Battle of Qingfengdian" in Pingliang County. But in Pingliang at that time, there was no theater, only an "open-air cinema". Childhood memories of countless people-open-air cinema. 195 1 year, Pingliang Military Division built a "Liberation Cinema" in the county town, which was the first cinema in Pingliang after the founding of New China. 1954 was handed over to the local * * * management and renamed People's Cinema. 1962 changed its name to Dongfanghong Cinema. 1957, People's Theatre is built in the south gate. 1958, Huating Ankou Cinema was completed. From 1974 to 1976, Lingtai Cinema, Chongxin Cinema and Jingning Cinema were built one after another. 1979 regional theatre and huating county theatre were built. 1983 to 1985, build Zhuanglang County Theater and Lingtai County Theater. According to statistics, at the end of 1980s, there were 23 performance screening places in 7 counties (cities) of Pingliang. Today's South Gate Cross Kongtong Grand Theatre. As the earliest comprehensive performance venue in Pingliang, People's Theatre has a somewhat western architectural style. Although not as grand as the later regional theater, memories of youth, which carries many people, is the spiritual highland of several generations of Pingliang people. At that time, people went to the People's Theatre to hold conferences, watch model operas and watch movies. Later, the People's Theatre was rebuilt and expanded several times, and then it was demolished and rebuilt, and it was renamed "Kongtong Grand Theatre". Today, the Kongtong Grand Theatre and Pingliang Theatre still stand on the original site and have not been washed away by the wave of urban development, precisely because of their unique landmark buildings. For today's citizens, there are many cinemas to choose from, and they will not choose these two places again. However, they are still the spiritual highland of Pingliang people.