? I have an old photo of the intersection, which was taken by my father of West Street in the 1970s and 1980s. In the photo, two-story wooden arcades and thousand-leaf bark trees outline the narrow and winding streets. The pillars of the arcade have the words "Pingwei Shoe Store".
? Dongcheng Road, Xining Road and Zhennan Road at the intersection are one of the few century-old streets. Xining Road runs east-west and is also called "West Street"; Zhennan Road runs north-south and is also called "South Street". The two streets "crossed each other" at the current location of the District Education Bureau. Before liberation, this was a place full of shops and merchants.
West Street used to be a "food street". The short 100-meter street from Cross Road to Chaoyang Street is home to many teahouses and restaurants. From east to west, they are located in Guangchangrong Teahouse (later renamed Jinxing Teahouse), Guangji Teahouse, Yixiang Teahouse, Huiru Tower, Qingtian Teahouse, Xi'anju, Guanzhanyuan (later renamed Xiru Teahouse), etc. Guangchangrong has the highest high-rise building (five-story concrete building) and the largest scale. Various Cantonese dishes, pastries and pastries. The ways to cook chicken include plain-cut chicken, fried chicken, hundred-flower chicken, salt-baked chicken, shredded chicken, mandarin duck chicken, Taiye chicken, baby chicken, etc. Later, the business further expanded: waitresses entertained, famous actors sang; morning, lunch and evening markets, people sang in the Chinese language. At that time, dignitaries and celebrities also had designated dishes: County Magistrate Li Wuzi's "County Chief's Cuisine", Provincial Finance Director Ou Fangpu's "Director's Cuisine", and Guard Brigade Commander Chen Hanguang's "Brigade Commander's Cuisine", known as the "Three Chiefs". vegetable". At Guangji Tea House, which is consumed by the lower class, there are big buns stuffed with palm-sized mushrooms, chicken, pork, and pork liver; there is also "big pork rice" with pig scalp as vegetables and rice with pork juice.
? West Street is still "a street for medical treatment." All clinics use the doctor's name as a signboard, which is clearly visible at a glance. From east to west, there are Li Zhiqiang Clinic, Feng Guoliang Clinic, Fan Jingbo Clinic, Zhong Yaoqun Clinic, Lin Wenshan Clinic (ophthalmology), Huang Chitong Clinic (selling plasters), Liao Shaokun Clinic, etc. South Street has the Western Medicine Kwong Yu Nam Clinic and the Western Medicine Chung Zhu Wing Clinic. Due to the numerous clinics, the "drug shop street" of South Street was born. There are Rende Hall, Tong'an Hall, Yong'an Hall, Yishou Hall, and Youyun Pharmacy. The hundreds of kinds of Chinese medicinal materials in the store are all unlabeled, and they are all understood by the skilled staff. Pick up the medicines and wrap each medicine carefully in gauze paper, which is called "each package".
Among other "time-honored" businesses on West Street, there are also "Sanhutang" and "Zhenmintang" selling herbal tea. Sanhutang was founded by Ouyang Jin during the Daoguang period. Local Chinese herbal medicines are collected to secretly prepare four-season herbal tea. The coldness can clear away heat, and the heat can dispel heat. It is like "three tigers" exerting force, so it is called "Three Tigers". There are also He Nuji and Zhengli who make tin iron; "Cai Shenghe" who sells vegetable seeds; and "Kuang Shaoquan" who beats bones and straightens his bones. Shuji sells clocks; a shoe store sells shoes; Li Fung sells groceries. In the 1980s, a snack bar famous throughout the county was born - Lin Yueying Noodle Shop, specializing in wontons. Because the hostess is extremely fat, she is known as "Fat Woman Wonton".
I found Mr. Zhong Furong, an old Chinese medicine doctor from "Lao West Street" and Conghua, to inquire about city affairs. After careful identification, he discovered that the West Street photographed by his father was where Huang Chitong Clinic was located.
(This article is based on the dictation of Mr. Zhong Furong)