? After breakfast at the hotel, the group walked to Chaozhou Archway Street.

? Chaozhou Archway Street is located in the center of the ancient city. It is an ancient cultural street integrating intangible cultural heritage, traditional crafts, special snacks, etc.

The characteristic building of Archway Street is a combination of Chinese and Western arcades. The 22 Chinese-style Ming and Qing stone archways stand in contrast to the Nanyang-style arcades on both sides. The arcade buildings with Nanyang architectural style were introduced in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, forming a unique hometown of overseas Chinese that combines Chinese and Western styles.

style.

The shops in the arcade of Paifang Street mainly focus on Chaozhou intangible cultural heritage: Chaozhou embroidery, hand-pulled pots, ceramics, Gongfu tea, etc., as well as Chaozhou delicacies: Chaozhou three treasures, beef hotpot, rice noodles, licorice fruits... When in Chaozhou, go there

In Archway Street, you can learn about the past and present life of the ancient city of Chaozhou.

Historically, Chaozhou City was the political center of eastern Guangdong, where state, road and government administrations were located, and where many high-ranking officials gathered.

After the Song Dynasty, talented people emerged in large numbers and humanities gathered together. Therefore, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, many archways were built in Chaozhou City.

According to relevant historical records, there were 91 archways in Chaozhou in history, including 39 on Taiping Road, 44 on other streets, and the rest in Jinshan, Hanshan, and Xiangzi Bridge.

In addition, there are 57 archways in towns and villages, so people call it the "City of Archways"; the archways concentrated on Taiping Road (Main Street) are mostly two pillars and one gate across the road, which are large in scale, row upon row, and unique in style.

Because of its extraordinary momentum, it is known as "Armor Street".

Taiping Road and Dongmen Street are the sections with the highest concentration of ancient archways in Chaozhou.

According to historical records, there are 39 stone archways on Taiping Road in Ming and Qing Dynasties, of which 34 were built in the Ming Dynasty and 5 were built in the Qing Dynasty. The earliest one was built in the 12th year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty (1517).

The "Zhu Shi" square built by Xu Hongyou, the censor, was built in the 50th year of Qianlong (1785) at the latest. It was the "Holy Dynasty Envoy and Prime Minister" square built for Zheng Dajin, the governor of Zhili.

The archways in Chaocheng are all stone structures, except for "Gongbao Shangshufang" and "Liuxianfang", which are made of wood, and "Shijingjie Xiaofang" and "Qiutaifang", which were rebuilt after collapse, and are made of brick.

These archways have "two pillars and one door, or four pillars and three doors. They are carved with stone tops, pillars, beams and other small parts. Three stacks of archways are set up. On both sides of the plaque, some are decorated with stone carvings of 'Double Dragons Playing with Pearls' or 'Double Dragons Playing with Pearls'."

"Dragon and phoenix scroll grass" and other decorations, and stone lions or stone drums inserted into the column bases are added to the sides of the columns. The trendy people commonly call them pavilions.

Due to natural and man-made factors in history, there were 39 archways in existence by the time Chaocheng was liberated in October 1949, including 19 on Taiping Road, 3 on Ngee'an Road, 13 on other streets and alleys, and 4 on Jinshan and Hanshan (

Quoted from the archived "Records of Chaozhou Ancient Archways in 1955", among the photos of archways preserved in the museum, there are 17 archways on Taiping Road.

"Fang"; Block 2, Ngee Ann Road, lacks "En Shen Yue Fang", which confirms that the above figures are accurate).

The remaining archways in Chaocheng were in disrepair and had become loose and damaged. In addition, the content was "praising the virtues of feudal literati". Therefore, an accidental accident led to the destruction of the entire archway group.

According to reports, on the afternoon of December 17, 1950, the "100-year-old Xiangbinfang" located at the entrance of Xiashuimen Street (commonly known as Xiashitou) suddenly collapsed, killing Xu Huankun, a passing postal worker. Therefore, on the 19th, the first meeting of Chengguan Town, Chao'an County

The Consultative Committee of the People's Congress convened people from all walks of life to discuss and approved the demolition of archways throughout the city and the establishment of a "Committee for Demolition of Abandoned Pavilions", which was submitted to the Chao'an County People's Government for approval and implementation.

By April 1951, in addition to the three archways of "Yuebo", "Shenglang" and "Zhongjie", the Communist Party of China had demolished 36 archways in the city, and the two "Yuebo" and "Shenglang" archways were also difficult to demolish.

To escape the misfortune of the "Cultural Revolution", only the "Zhongjie Fang" located on the second pillar and the first gate of Beima Road remained.

Regarding the reasons for the demolition of the building, according to the Chengminzi No. 520 document submitted by the Chengguan Town People’s Government to the county government, there are three reasons: first, “it obstructs traffic”; second, “it is in disrepair and is in danger of falling into disrepair; third, it is in the air defense

period, it is even more necessary to demolish them." In fact, in addition to the above reasons, there are also internal factors that affect business operations and "feudal content". Therefore, although the enlightened Liu Yishao proposed to preserve a few valuable archways or relocate them, none of them

was adopted. And although the resolution requires centralized protection of components with cultural relic value, there are very few survivors to this day. After Chaozhou was listed as a national historical and cultural city in December 1986, with the establishment of the special agency Famous City Office and people's attention.

With the improvement of historical and cultural awareness, the restoration of Archway Street has been put on the agenda. However, due to insufficient subjective and objective conditions, it has not been implemented since the beginning of the 21st century. Under the instigation of the "tourism boom", the ancient city wall and the East Gate Tower have been restored.

, Guangji Bridge and other key projects have started one after another, and the restoration of Archway Street has become an important project in the construction of a famous city. With the attention of the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government and the enthusiastic support of people at home and abroad, planning began in 2004.

Design, the foundation stone was officially laid in September of the same year; after two years of construction, the installation and acceptance of the archway were basically completed by the end of 2007, and the repair of the arcades on both sides and the laying of stone pavement continued.