Chaozhou Paifang Street is located in the center of the ancient city, which is an ancient cultural street integrating intangible cultural heritage, traditional crafts and special snacks.

The characteristic building of Paifang Street is an arcade that combines Chinese and Western styles. The 22 Chinese stone archways in Ming and Qing Dynasties stand against the arcades with Nanyang flavor on both sides. The arcades with Nanyang architectural style were introduced in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, forming a unique overseas Chinese hometown style that combines Chinese and Western styles. The shops in Paifang Street arcade mainly focus on Chaozhou intangible cultural heritage: Chaozhou embroidery, hand-pulled pots, ceramics, congou tea, etc., as well as Chaozhou delicacies: Chaozhou Sambo, beef hotpot, kway teow and licorice fruit.

In Chaozhou, you can learn about past lives in the ancient city of Chaozhou by going to Paifang Street, which is a unique cultural landscape in China. According to a brief account of Chaozhou Paifang written by Mr. Huang Meicen, the legend goes back to the Tang and Song Dynasties, and it was originally built of wood and looked like a hollow belly door. In ancient times, the rulers advocated ethics and morality, and those who made outstanding achievements in virtue, merit and discipline between urban and rural areas were honored and posted on the workshop, which was called Biao Lu, so the memorial archway also played a commemorative role.

Cultural value

According to engineer Qiu Chuangping, the main designer of this memorial archway, among the 22 restored archways, 18 were built from 1517 to 1637 in Ming Dynasty and 4 from 1736 to 1785 in Qing Dynasty, with a calendar of 268 years. The contents of the archway include Zhuangyuan Square, No.2 Square, Shangshu Square, Zhushi Square, Dazong Square, Sijinshi Square, Qijun Square, Mu Tianren Ruifang, an 88-year-old scholar, Kejia Jimei Square, and Jinbang Lianfang Square, where both father and son are scholars.

The structure of the archway has 12 columns, 8 columns and 4 columns, which can resist an earthquake of magnitude 8, so that it will not be damaged in a big earthquake and will not collapse in a small earthquake. At the same time, on the basis of extensive collection of the original archway components, * * * uses 42 original components, mainly including the plaques of three squares, namely Qijun, Gijin Chongguang and Mutianrenrui, as well as imperial edicts, bluestone carvings, reliefs and other components.

above content reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Chaozhou Paifang Street