As early as the 1920s, this area has become a commercial gathering area, where Indian monk Dharma once landed to preach, hence the name "Lacey Chu Land". During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with the establishment of Huaiyuan Post Station (south of Xiajiu Road) to receive foreign envoys and merchants, the opening of Daguan River, and the thirteenth line becoming an important port for Guangzhou's foreign trade, commercial trade became increasingly prosperous, and merchants from all over the world once gathered and became the largest trade distribution center in Guangzhou. Later, the thirteenth line was destroyed by fire, and merchants gradually moved into Shangjiu Road and Xiajiu Road. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, it was the most prosperous place and an important window for Guangzhou to trade with the whole country and at home and abroad.

At the same time, with the growing commercial atmosphere of Shangjiu Road and Xiajiu Road, a number of related professional markets have been derived from the surrounding areas. For more than a hundred years, some historical sites can still be found, and now it has developed into an important commercial network in this area. There is a paper wholesale market and a sewing machine professional market in Guangfu Middle Road in the east. Guangfu South Road Cloth Market; Xiang Yang Road Cloth Market; Dexing road clothing ingredients market; In the south, there are the famous clothing market in Jiuyi Street, the cloth market in Shisanxing Road and Shibafu Road, the national famous Huangsha agricultural and sideline products market and Qingping Chinese herbal medicine market. In the west, there are 100-year-old shops-Taotaoju, Lianxianglou and many restaurants on Shifu Road (now part of the pedestrian street). In the north, there are changshou road barber supplies professional market, gold industry, gold and silver jewelry industry; Zheng Xilai Street Jade Market and Suanzhi Furniture Street with a long history; Sheng Yuan street, antique street, etc. , forming a huge commercial network with a vertical and horizontal area of nearly 2.5 square kilometers, bringing together all kinds of goods to meet the needs of different types of merchants and citizens. There are dozens of large and small restaurants on the pedestrian street, including Taotaoju, a century-old shop, and Guangzhou Restaurant, a national super-class restaurant. There are also some specialty snack shops, such as Nanxin dessert shop, European noodle restaurant and Xiguan family, which operate famous snacks in Xiguan. There are also famous traditional cake shops that make Cantonese moon cakes-Lianxianglou, Taotaoju, Cookie House and Guangzhou Restaurant. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, all kinds of moon cakes produced here sell well at home and abroad. Restaurants from Hongkong, Macau, Taiwan Province and other countries have also entered the pedestrian street, which has become an area for the exchange of traditional and modern, national and international food culture, fully embodying the food culture style of eating in Guangzhou and enjoying in Xiguan.

1995 pedestrian street has achieved good economic and social benefits after several years of development since it opened on September 30. 1992 was named as a street not selling (producing) fake and shoddy goods by Guangzhou municipal government, 1996 was named as Youth Civilization Street by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, 1997 was named as the top ten tourist attractions in Yangcheng-Xiguan Commercial Corridor, and 1998 was named as the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Ministry of Internal Trade and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.

This is a very attractive place. There are high-end department stores all over the pedestrian street, including Yong 'an Department Store, Guangzhou Clothing Store, heming Shoes and Hats Store, Mainland Watch Store, Women and Children Department Store, Guangzhou Textile Mall, Jinhua Bedding Store and other old brands. Interestingly, some top brands of new products and old models have been "clearance sale" all the year round; As for restaurants, there are Qingping Hotel, Huangshanghuang Vera Restaurant, Guangzhou Restaurant, Taotaoju Restaurant, Lianxianglou and Shifu Food Store.

In addition, there are interesting sweet cake families, tea houses, Wenchang chicken, Qingping chicken, ginger onion chicken, ginger milk, double-skin milk, ou wonton noodles, Wuhetou porridge, Cantonese moon cakes, glutinous rice chicken, old woman cakes, quick-frozen foods and various famous dishes and snacks; There is also a famous Hualin Jade Street. Qingping Road is not only a food street, but also the largest farmer's street in China. In addition, there are many stationery stores, professional shopping malls and department stores. It is worth mentioning that there are large commercial and residential buildings in Liwan Square, and the opening ceremony of the International Food Festival is held here every year.

Great changes have taken place in the upper, lower and ninth floors after comprehensive construction. Under the skyline, tall buildings are crowded together. People will feel the strong Lingnan characteristics: the arcade-style buildings on both sides of the road are well preserved; In the streets of xiguan big house, Marsh Street is still there; More than 300 meters of large spotlights were built on the road to spray the paintings of "Yangcheng Landscape Gallery", and nearly 100 neon signs were brightly lit; Coupled with the giant neon lights on the pedestrian street, large spotlights and oil paintings, and more than 2,000 lanterns and colored lights hanging along the road ... it really adds a lot of color to this metropolis. At night, against the backdrop of dark night and neon lights, it is particularly brilliant.

Gourmet: Taste Xiguan all the way.

In the old days, there was a saying in Xiguan that there must be snacks within a hundred steps. Many street snacks with unique flavors have been handed down to this day. From changshou road subway station to Guangzhou restaurant, you must keep your eyes open. In the corner of a small street that you don't pay attention to, there are snacks that make your appetite big.

"Silver Record" rice rolls are food that is counted up and down nine times; "Europe" supplies fresh shrimp to Wonton Noodles; "Wu" also has the first porridge, fish skin porridge; Tangyuan, Shrimp Dumplings, steamed dumplings and Radish Cake in "Guangzhou Restaurant"; Lotus seed cake, egg cake, old woman cake and dragon and phoenix wedding cake in Lianxianglou; Taotaoju's ginger and onion chicken and cream steamed stuffed bun; "Nanxin" double skin milk, ginger milk and cow Samsung; "Linlin" giblet pig red soup ...

Among hundreds of snacks in Xiguan, more than 20 kinds have been recognized as famous brands, among which 65,438+00 kinds have been rated as "famous snacks in China", such as Nanxin Double Skin Milk and Nanxin Ginger Milk by dessert experts, Tangxia Wonton for European pasta, Wu No.1 porridge and Lianxiang.

Tan Zaocha likes Cantonese dim sum.

Living in nearby old Guangzhou, I always hope that friends of my family, big or small, can go to Guangzhou Restaurant and Taotaoju to have morning tea and eat the most authentic Cantonese dim sum when they are free on weekdays.

Young people are not so picky about it. You can find delicious food everywhere in the old stalls and shops that can be seen everywhere. There are no tables and chairs, so you can stop in the street or stroll around while eating and eat with satisfaction. The prestigious "Linlin" grocery store has only two or three square meters. Pots of steaming turnip beef offal are being cooked by Gollum. The aunt who looked at the shop handed me a bowl full of turnip beef offal, plus seafood sauce, garlic sauce, hot sauce and homemade sour radish. I ate for one stop, sweating like a pig, but I was infinitely satisfied with the rich fragrance. Linlin's radish beef offal materials don't look particular, but the radish is not big and tastes good. Beef brisket is full of flavor and very suitable for eating.

After eating salty things, it's time to moisten the taste buds with sweets. Nanxin double skin milk, a 60-year-old dessert shop, enjoys a high reputation in Guangzhou. The so-called "double skin" is because when making, high-quality buffalo fresh milk is selected, boiled with water and quickly poured into a bowl for cooling and freezing, and the surface of the bowl is covered with a layer of milk skin; Then poke a small hole in the milk skin to pour out the fresh milk, mix it with a proper amount of fresh egg white, and then pour it into a bowl from the small hole and stew it in water. The fresh milk in the bowl forms another layer of skin, so it is called "double skin milk". Nanxin double skin milk smells fragrant, looks like nectar and tastes smooth and tender. Many diners are not afraid of the long journey and come here to taste.

Traditional modern arbitrary choice

In addition to the traditional snacks in Xiguan, you can also eat Korean and Japanese cuisine and famous snacks from all over the country in Minghui Chinese Snack Street next to Liwan Square. Roadside snack bars, roasted chicken legs and sizzling squid ... attract people's appetite all the time. Not far away are Fairy Forest, Kungfu, Pizza Hut, McDonald's and Saglia Italian Restaurant. Compared with Beijing Road and Tianhe City, Shangxiajiu's biggest commercial features are arcades, sculptures and time-honored brands, which constitute the folk customs of Shangxiajiu.

From the master to Shangjiu Road, the arcade is spread out in front of you. At present, these buildings, which are the largest in Guangzhou and still maintain the function of commercial prosperity, were built in the Qing Dynasty. They are the product of the combination of the architectural features of southern Europe and the traditional architectural style of Xiguan, and the decoration is also integrated with the Manchu decoration in the north.

Near Liwan Square, groups of sculptures showing the traditional life of Xiguan have increased, and they will always be the favorite of tourists, which represents the traditional culture of Guangzhou and can also awaken the traditional Guangzhou complex of citizens. These sculptures representing Xiguan customs were created by Wan Zhaoquan in 2002. "Herbal tea stall", "people bridge", "old coachman" and "beautiful pictures in front of the door" are all lifelike. Through these sculptures, the life scenes of Guangzhou people emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, and the feelings of Xiguan were beyond words.

When you wander in the morning and evening, a figure with a pointed bamboo flat hat, red rouge on his cheeks and a "colored rooster" appears. He used suona to imitate the cock's cry "sell olives, sell olives". That's the staff selling chicken oil fruit, which was specially played by the Lizhiwan Cultural Exchange Association to preserve the chicken oil fruit culture. His appearance is like going back in time, which reminds us of Xiguan folk custom in 1930s and 1940s. "A pack of mosquitoes is delicious whether it is spicy or not", and people who have been to Shangxiajiu will remember this sentence when they come back to talk about "Chicken Gong Lan".

Although most people come here for her business atmosphere, some people's interests are not here. Turning to many alleys along the road is another quiet world with deeper cultural connotation.

Almost every street has beautiful legends and profound history. The "Wen Lan Pavilion" on Xiajiu Road confirms the history of the "Wen Lan Academy" established by thirteen wealthy businessmen in the past. Zhanluzhi Street is the former residence of the champion Liang in Tongzhi period of Qing Dynasty. Taotaoju is a gathering place for Cantonese opera artists in history. It was once famous for "Xiguan Ancient Altar" and Frost Garden Painting and Calligraphy Exhibition. People here enjoy singing Cantonese opera "Private Bureau", which is also very famous. The Liwan Yayuan Painting and Calligraphy Exhibition Hall of the Municipal Bookstore and the Ping An Theater where Cantonese Opera is staged are even more cultural oases on this pedestrian street.