What is the oldest street in Beijing, Nanluoguxiang

Nanluoguxiang is a hutong located in the Jiaodoukou area on the east side of Beijing's central axis, stretching from Guloudong Street in the north to Ping'an Street in the south, with a width of 8 meters and a length of 787 meters, and was built during the same period as Yuandadu. It is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Beijing, with a history of more than 740 years.

It is also ranked among the 25 old city conservation areas in the plan. It is called Luoban Alley because its terrain is high in the center and low in the north and south, like a hunchback. In the Qing Dynasty, the "Complete Map of the Capital" drawn in the 15th year of the Qianlong reign (1750) renamed it Nanluoguxiang (南锣鼓巷).

It is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Beijing, and is the only traditional residential area in China that preserves the hutong courtyard texture of the Yuan Dynasty, is the largest in scale, has the highest grade, and is the richest in resources, and is also the most endowed with the flavor of the old Beijing streets and alleys.

The surrounding hutongs are full of colorful and deep residences and mansions of various shapes and sizes. Nanluoguxiang and the surrounding area was once the center of the Yuan Dynasty, and during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was a place of great wealth, where the streets and alleys were crowded with officials and dignitaries, and there were countless royal mansions and mansions, until the Qing Dynasty collapsed and Nanluoguxiang's prosperity slowly came to an end.

Nanluoguxiang runs north-south, with eight hutongs neatly arranged east and west, in the shape of a fishbone, continuing the "checkerboard" pattern from ancient times, and making the whole neighborhood look like a big centipede, which is why it is also called Centipede Street. It is said that there used to be two ancient wells in the northernmost part of Nanluoguxiang, which became the two eyes of the centipede. This overall texture of the hutongs and courtyards is the embodiment of the Yuan dynasty's checkerboard urban architectural pattern.

The Nanluoguxiang neighborhood is bounded by Gulou East Street in the north, Di'anmen East Street in the south, Di'anmen Wai Street in the west, and Jiaodaokou South Street in the east. Surrounded by these four streets, this rectangular plot of land is exactly the two workshops of the Yuan Dynasty capital. South Luo Guoxiang as the boundary, the east is "Zhao Hui Fang", the west is "Jing Gong Fang", South Luo Guoxiang is the boundary between the two Fang Lane.