By the Tang Dynasty, the commercial market in Changzhou had begun to take shape, and there were shops in the city. In the Song Dynasty, commerce flourished day by day, and shops or workshops were all over the banks of Houhe River (now in front of Xiaoying and the Cultural Palace), which was the busy city at that time. During the Yongle period of Ming Dynasty (1403- 1424), Changzhou had become one of the 33 large commercial and handicraft developed commercial ports in China. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Changzhou homespun industry flourished day by day, which was not only the place where the cloth was produced, but also the place where it was sold and breathed. In the early years of the Republic of China, Changzhou's modern industry rose, which promoted the prosperity of commercial trade, and produced more than 40 industries and more than 300 shops, including grain, wood products, silks and satins, department stores, Wuyang, chemical paints, traditional Chinese medicine, western medicine, northern goods, southern goods, wine sauce, tea, restaurants, inns and haircuts. After the Opium War, shipping was forbidden, and foreign goods flooded into Changzhou. Therefore, "Beijing-Guangzhou goods industry" was renamed as "Beijing-Guangzhou foreign goods industry", "Beijing goods" refers to foreign goods from big cities in Beijing, and "Guangzhou goods" refers to foreign goods transported by people in border areas and Guangdong. It was not until the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China that the purchase channel gradually shifted from Beijing-Guangzhou to Shanghai. In the middle of the Republic of China, it was mostly replaced by Shanghai goods. At that time, retail stores were mainly concentrated in the area of South Street and County Lane, especially large and medium-sized department stores. From Nanjie to Xiyinglikou, there are almost countless shops, all of which are storefront merchants. During the Republic of China, South Street was a 3-4 meter stone road, and 1937 was widened to 9 meters. In June165438+1October of the same year, the Japanese invaders bombed Changzhou and the houses in Nanjie were destroyed. In order to meet the needs of military transportation, the Japanese and puppet troops widened the road surface to 14 meter and built a brick ditch sewer with a width of 60 cm. 1947, marble road is paved again. 1952 pouring concrete pavement of sidewalk. 1August, 959, the boulders on the street were cleared for the first time, and the pouring asphalt pavement with a thickness of 4~5 cm was paved, which changed the road structure from ordinary to secondary. 1989 was repaired again, and 6 cm black asphalt surface was added. South Street has bred many experienced "old shops". The most famous one is Tongningyuan Pharmacy, which was founded by Zhejiang Rentong in the second year of tomorrow (1622). This shop mainly deals in traditional Chinese medicine and homemade Chinese patent medicines. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, children followed the trend and developed "Lin Wenzhong Gong (Lin Zexu) Pill Paste", which is a pill to stop smoking opium. Because of its remarkable curative effect, it is very popular in both urban and rural areas. Because of its rich profits, it has become one of the four major pharmacies in Changzhou, which are equally famous with Lao, Dong and Cunren. During War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Chinese medicine shops were destroyed. Reconstruction in 1939, the facade was expanded from 2 to 3. 1946 brothers separated, known as the north-south pharmacy. The plaque in Tongningyuan Store was written by Sun Shu, a famous calligrapher and minister of rites in Ming Dynasty. Stores such as Qingyu brand "refined decoction pieces", "pill powder plaster" and "Tongningyuan medicine number" are hung under the eaves. There is a high Hehe varnish counter in the shop, with a decoction piece cabinet in the south and a pill powder cabinet in the north. At the end of the counter, there are two Qinglong cards written in gold on a white background, with the words "Authentic in Golden Chamber" and "Exquisite in Qing Dynasty". Stick a piece of paint on the side corner of the counter, with the history of the store and the logo of "Liu Hai" on it, and stand a hundred-eye cabinet and a pill cabinet against the wall. It presents an atmosphere of antique and authentic medicinal materials. Unfortunately, during the ten years of turmoil, all these were burned. Different from the traditional Chinese medicine shops in Tongningyuan, the western medicine shops, which embodied the "Shanghai style" after the Opium War, were founded in the 22nd year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty (1896). Ge shopkeeper wholesales western medicine, pill powder and liquid medicine from major pharmacies or pharmaceutical factories in Shanghai, and then resells them to small pharmacies or drug dealers. Glass counters are set up in the store, advertisements for western paintings are posted, various medicines are recommended, and sometimes doctors are invited to sit in the clinic, thus winning customers day by day. In the past, hairdressers generally used mobile door-to-door service, which was divided into two types: shoulder-lifting and double-package. The earliest barber shop with a storefront in Changzhou was a barber named Zhu, who opened a star barber shop in Sunfu Lane 1920, South Street. Three years later, it was bought and destroyed in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. 1938 was rebuilt in situ by Zhou Guangming. 1945 was expanded into a three-story building, which attracted people with status and position to come to have their hair cut and became one of the more influential barbershops in Changzhou. The earliest and largest washing and dyeing shop in Changzhou is the Philippine washing and dyeing shop founded by Zhou Yusheng and Hu Yaochu on 1938 in Nanjie. The shop has abundant funds, exquisite layout and strong technical force. The shop has two floors, one is the facade, the other is the living room, the door is a glass revolving door, the street is a glass window, and there are three large glass cabinets and a floor-to-ceiling toilet mirror at the entrance of the hall. Shanghai style is full, and it is also the most eye-catching storefront on the whole street of South Street. Later, Zhou Yusheng bought shares of other shareholders and operated independently. The shop has been renamed Zhang Zheng Verdun and People's Washing and Dyeing Shop. 196 1 merged with Wellcome Laundry in and restored the name of Zhang Zheng Laundry. Until 1949, there were Dehe Yizhuang, Renhe Silk Store, Yida Silk Store, Nanyang Department Store, Changyu Ji Department Store, Rixin Department Store, as well as various shoes and hats, daily necessities, mirror boxes, noodle shops, Times Food Store, Triumph Cinema, Grand View Garden Bookstore, etc. It's a bustling scene. Since 200 1, the century-old street has been rebuilt on a large scale. June 5438+October 2005 10, Nanjie Commercial Pedestrian Street with an investment of 1 more than 100 million yuan was completed and opened. This project is covered by four roads: Park Road, South Street, Qingguo Lane and Yanling West Road, with a width of120m from east to west and a length of 600m from north to south. The whole plot is connected by an S-shaped pedestrian street. Commercial street integrates leisure, shopping, catering, tourism, office, entertainment and other functions to provide consumers with one-stop service. Among them, the first and second floors are boutique shops, the third floor is a amorous food street, and the first floor is a large supermarket of 20,000 square meters.