How about Wuzhou arcade?

Wuzhou, known as the "century-old commercial port", was once the political, economic and cultural center of Lingnan area, and the arcade was a symbol of commercial prosperity in the past. Wuzhou arcade culture has become a beautiful landscape in the local area, and it has been selected into CCTV Zhengda variety show.

At present, Wuzhou has built a flood dike, and the phenomenon of repeated floods every year has become history, but the unique architectural style of the arcade has been preserved as a historical witness.

There are 22 arcades, with a total length of 7 kilometers and a maximum length of 2,530 meters, and there are 560 arcade buildings, which are rare in China and worthy of the name "China arcade museum city".

The arcade is not uncommon in the southern cities of China, but I am afraid it is rare to call it a "city". The old town of Hedong in Wuzhou, Guangxi, is called "China arcade". 22 original arcades and 560 arcades with classic Chinese and foreign designs.

Wuzhou, located at the junction of Guangdong and Guangxi, is an ancient city with a long history of more than 265,438+000 years. Cangwu was originally the name of a big tribe of Baiyue nationality. The place names of Cangwu can be traced back to the period of Yu Shun. In the fifth year after the Han Dynasty (BC 183), the Nanyue Dynasty established Cangwu Wangcheng and Wuzhou. In the fourth year of Tang Wude (AD 6265,438+0), Wuzhou was known as the "Watergate of Guangxi" because it collected more than 85% of the water flow in Guangxi. Wuzhou has a unique geographical position and enjoys the reputation of "a century-old commercial port".

It is precisely because Wuzhou has a long history, is the earliest port for Guangxi's foreign trade, and once had the reputation of "Little Hong Kong" that there are many arcades today, and it is known as "China arcade".

The so-called "China arcade" or "China arcade museum" actually refers to 22 arcades in Hedong ancient town of Wuzhou. Most of these arcades were built in the 1920s and 1930s. The so-called "arcade" is a common architectural form in the last century. It originated in Pukul, Li Bingran, and was first built by the British. It is a "veranda building" with a corridor in front of the living room, mostly three or four floors.

Because tropical and subtropical areas are windy, rainy and sunny. Arcade is very popular in South China, Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Singapore and other places, because it can keep out the wind, rain and sun.

Jian Xiao, a famous contemporary scholar and cultural scholar in China, pointed out that arcade is a historical witness of Wuzhou's commercial prosperity in the past century: Wuzhou is located at the 0- intersection of Xunshui, Guangxi and Xi rivers, the birthplace of Lingnan culture and Pearl River culture, the political, economic and cultural center of the ancient Pearl River basin and Lingnan area, and has become a "commercial port of Guangdong and Guangxi" and a "water gateway" in recent and modern centuries. In AD 1897, Wuzhou was turned into a trading port, gradually developed into a famous commercial port in the Pearl River Basin, and began to build arcade buildings. In the past, arcade merchants gathered, and in its heyday, there were more than 500 large and small firms/kloc-0, creating tens of thousands of rich people!

Wuzhou arcade building is mainly a front shop and a back house, and the lower shop is a combination of residence and business. Downstairs is the pedestrian traffic passage, and the outside of the arcade building colonnade is the vehicle traffic passage. Reinforced concrete structure is generally adopted, and the spacing between columns is generally about 3 meters to 5 meters. The pillars, balconies, stigmas and other forms are different, or solemn and generous, or exquisite and chic, or elegant and noble. Relief, Roman columns and arched windows combine the traditional style of China and the classical architectural style of Europe. From the appearance of Wuzhou arcade, we can see many representative architectural languages in China at that time, such as flower windows, brick carvings, archways and so on. Very beautiful, its function and art have reached a very high level. Walking into the arcade is like walking into the arcade museum. Here, reflecting the charm of water, the clear water wall and the western-style iron fence viewing balcony; Roman columns and arched windows with strong westernization traces; The facade highlights Wuzhou's unique building components, such as sluices and mooring rings.

Wuzhou arcade is located at the intersection of the two rivers and has been hit by floods all the year round. In order to cope with the rising of the river, residents have to go in and out easily and can only use boats, so there are iron rings on the gates and arcade columns. During construction, iron rings are embedded in the brick columns of arcades near rivers or other low-level streets to anchor ships when the streets are flooded. The windows above the second floor of the low-rise arcade facing the street are portal-shaped, so as to prepare to get on and off the ship from there during the flood. This feature is unique in domestic arcades. People didn't panic when floods took to the streets before. Water to the door, pad a few bricks, continue to do business, play cards, touch mahjong. When the water reaches the second floor, the citizens tie the boat to the iron ring and get on and off the boat from the window or the water gate.

In the arcade and museum city, the gray sculpture art containing China traditional culture can be seen everywhere. On the wall of the arcade on Da 'nan Road, a relief reads "More than every year, more than every year", and there are two carp swimming under the lotus pond; Another relief is four white cranes under a pine tree, which means "Songhe Changchun"; There is an Aquarius, meaning "peace and security"; On the sculpture of Longmu Taimiao Square, there are "Carp yue longmen" and so on.

Parapet is the gentlest name among the decorative components of arcade buildings. The parapet is a parapet that stands on the street with the roof of the arcade more than half a person's height. The origin of the parapet is very interesting. In ancient times, due to the shackles of feudal ethics, a large family specially built a wall on the roof and wall to prevent their daughters from going out casually, but the girls could not help the wonderful and 0- world outside without leaving home, so they quietly climbed to the roof or high wall and looked out through the low protective wall. Over time, they are called railings. This kind of low wall with the roof facing the street allows the lovely girl in the boudoir to overlook the secular life and bloom in youth. Scholars who occasionally look up are lucky enough to catch this touch, and a romantic story begins.

Qilou Street is mainly distributed in Dadongshang Road, Dadongxia Road, Fumin Road, Datong Road, Zhongshan Road, Zhu 'an Road, Wu Fang Road, Sha Street, Jiufang Road, South Ring Road, Dazhong Road, Zhu Min Road, Jianshe Road, Danan Road, Xiaonan Road, Sifang Road, Guilin Road, Guibei Road and Beihuan Road. The continuous arcade is a symbol of Wuzhou's past glory and prosperity. There are many merchants in Qilou Street. In its heyday, there were more than 1500 large and small businesses on the street, which created thousands of wealthy businessmen. The most classic buildings in the arcade are the former site of Wuzhou Customs, the former site of Sidagong Hospital, Datong Hotel, Jubilee Hotel, Dadong Restaurant and Yuexi Building. The streets with the most historical and cultural connotations are Mawang Street and Jinlong Lane. The center of the arcade is from the arcade to the atrium square, where there are statues of historical celebrities such as Zhao Guang and Mouzi in Wuzhou. There is a 1.4 km long Wuzhou historical and cultural corridor from Xinxi Hotel to the inner wall of Long Mu Taimiao flood dike. Visit the arcade and you can see the history of Wuzhou for more than 2000 years in one day.