Singing the memories of Lingnan with each tune and filling the Cantonese style brick by brick

\”Falling flowers cover the sky and block the moonlight…\”, Xiguan Historical and Cultural Street, Liwan District, Guangzhou In Yongqingfang, Enning Road, the melodious singing tune floats leisurely. The audience stayed with each other across the lake, intoxicated by the sadness that traveled through a hundred years.

As a treasure of Lingnan culture, Cantonese opera was praised by Zhou Enlai The Prime Minister is known as the \”Red Bean of the South\”. On October 24, 2018, General Secretary Xi Jinping came to the Cantonese Opera Art Museum in Yongqingfang and had a cordial conversation with Cantonese opera fans, hoping that they would inherit and carry forward Cantonese opera well.

Opera highlights the unique aesthetics and historical culture of the Chinese nation . Cantonese Opera, a type of Chinese opera with a history of more than 300 years and sung in Cantonese dialect, combines the artistic characteristics of northern and southern operas and has distinct regional characteristics of Guangdong and Guangxi. It is spread among Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao and overseas Chinese, connecting common historical memories and culture. Bloodline.

• The picture shows a night Cantonese opera performance at the Kwong Fook Stage of the Museum of Cantonese Opera Art. The audience and actors are across the lake, enjoying the charm of the opera together. Photo courtesy of Guangzhou Liwan District Media Center

Following the footsteps of General Secretary Xi Jinping, accompanied by The reporter walked into Yongqingfang with its endless twists and turns. Here, it’s not hard to find “a close friend.” \”In recent years, we have focused on innovation in inheritance, incorporating some fashionable elements into traditional performances, and arranging new performances and film and television works based on classic repertoire. Today, there are many fans of Cantonese opera among young people.\” said the Cantonese Opera Art Museum The guide introduced that the museum had just launched a new Cantonese folk art drama \”Have Your Time to Drink Tea\” and it was packed with seats. The Bahe Guild Hall next to it also attracts visitors from all over the world. People walked into the legendary stories of famous Cantonese opera actors such as Xue Juexian and Ma Shitsang, and realized why Liyuan people used phoenix crowns and costumes to show the splendor of the world, and used \”singing, chanting, doing and beating\” to show the various aspects of the common people. Bahe Guild Hall used to be the location of the Cantonese Opera Guild, but now it is an old building with \”Internet celebrity\”. Along the street is the arcade. After passing through the gate, you can see a pair of majestic painted door gods on two tall and thick cypress doors. When you enter the guild hall, you will see the calm posture of a Xiguan mansion.

Yongqingfang has the most complete preservation in Guangzhou There are arcades and a large number of small buildings of the Republic of China with a combination of Chinese and Western styles. These historical buildings are treated with respect and kindness like \”old people\”.

\”Attach great importance to the protection of historical culture, do not rush for quick success, and do not demolish and build buildings.\” When General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected the renovation of the old city and the repair and protection of historical and cultural buildings along the street of Yongqingfang, he made important comments on urban planning and construction. The instructions require \”more use of \’embroidery\’ skills such as micro-renovation, focusing on the inheritance of civilization and cultural continuity, so that the city can leave memories and let people remember their nostalgia.\”

Like a Guangzhou embroidery that has been passed down for hundreds of years A treasure, Yongqingfang on Enning Road, Xiguan carries the collective memory of generations and is intertwined with the city’s historical context. During the Qing Dynasty, Guangzhou was the country\’s foreign trade center, and the Enning Road area became a settlement area for many merchants. Buildings of Xiguan houses featuring hard tops, blue bricks and stone feet and slatted doors were built. They were solemn and elegant, with exquisite carvings. . During the Republic of China, the arcade buildings brought by returning overseas Chinese became popular. The Baroque-style appearance, the pediments and building bodies characteristic of ancient Roman decoration, combined with ourThe wooden window lattice characteristics of northern China and the windows with modern Western stained glass technology demonstrate the charm of connecting north and south and integrating east and west. In the 1920s and 1930s, the arcades on Enning Road were connected together, and passers-by could walk through them on rainy days without holding an umbrella, forming a living landscape where they could enjoy the cool air and open shops for business. It was also during this period that Guangzhou\’s urban center of gravity gradually began to shift eastward. Xiguan, which was once a densely populated commercial area, gradually became an old city, and the area around Enning Road was gradually populated only by old residents. “At that time, the smell of Chinese medicine wafted out of the alley,” recalled Wang Abo, an old neighbor who has lived here for more than 60 years. By the time the renovation project was implemented in 2015, many buildings on the declining Enning Road were empty, the sewer system and electrical wiring facilities were messy and aging, and the community\’s public facilities were dilapidated and sanitary conditions were poor.

Like darning and embroidery, Yongqingfang The renovation project strives to keep the original colors intact and be precise and detailed. The old street shape and Lingnan residential style are retained, and the original spatial texture is maintained. We insist on repairing the old and building the new as before, and try to retain all the original facades. \”We will never demolish or build large-scale buildings, but we will strengthen them while demolishing them. In some places, we even removed bricks one by one and restored them brick by brick.\” Huang Dian, director of the Liwan District Renewal Center, said, \”In the past, people were accustomed to the carvings, wrought iron railings, and wooden Windows, etc., are all cherished as historical details. They were photographed and recorded one by one during the survey, and the original appearance was restored as much as possible during construction. ”

Through embroidery-like care, patience, and skill to improve the level of refinement, Yongqingfang not only retains historical memory and unique features, but also focuses on solving practical problems that residents are concerned about. \”One household, one policy\” provides separate drawings for each house, and precise \”point-and-point\” construction; at the same time, public facilities such as municipal administration, greening, transportation, and fire protection are comprehensively upgraded. \”The old Xiguan nursery rhyme singing \’It rains heavily, floods the streets\’ will never happen again.\” Liang Miansheng, an old resident, said with emotion, \”With the new wiring, we can safely use high-power appliances. The children come back during holidays and talk about flowers and plants.\” More, the environment is beautiful”

The first phase of the Yongqingfang renovation project was completed in 2016, covering an area of ​​about 8,000 square meters, and the repair and maintenance building area is about 7,800 square meters. The second phase of the project was implemented in 2019, and most of the areas have been completed.

• 　The picture shows the comparison of lanes and buildings before and after the renovation of Yongqingfang. Photo provided by the Propaganda Department of Guangzhou Liwan District Committee

The old streets full of Guangfu stories have reproduced the Lingnan elegance with profound heritage, blending of East and West, openness and tension in the new era. Looking up are the colorful glass windows and scattered wok-ear walls, and looking down are the long granite walls. The road and the stone foot wall of blue bricks, the roast goose shop smells of meat, and the herbal tea shop is full of laughter, \”Have you some tea?\” \”Old neighbors greet each other. Yongqingfang is like a crystal ball. Through it, it seems that you can capture the traces of the passage of time.

Historical buildings and regional culture have their own stories and attractions. In order to create a window for new telling of old stories, Yongqingfang adopts a \”government-led, market-operated, resident participation\” model to integrate historical culture and modern Integrate life into one. Make history and culture the soul of the city, build museums and workshops, and inherit it. And promote Cantonese opera, Cantonese opera, Cantonese embroidery, lion dancing, Wing Chun and other intangible cultural heritage with southern Cantonese characteristics, revive and innovate various traditional festival activities, and introduce new business formats such as Internet celebrity bookstores, coffee shops, and theaters to hold trendy events. Literary and artistic performances build a bridge between regional traditions and young culture. The attractiveness of the renovated Yongqingfang continues to increase, 2Passenger traffic will reach 24 million in 2023.

• 　The picture shows the lion dance team performing a New Year celebration performance in Yongqingfang. China News Service reporter Chen Jimin/photo

Tourists wearing Hanfu on the street are stroking the exquisite clear brick walls of the old arcade and taking pictures dignifiedly; inside the half-open door at the alley, the old man squints and shakes his sunflower fan, listening to the TV, oblivious to the bustling outside the door. Smell; at the gate of Bruce Lee’s ancestral home, overseas fans were excited with coffee in one hand and barbecued pork buns in the other. Check in; on the second floor terrace not far away, old neighbors are taking off vests and towels that have fallen on the clothesline; in the intangible cultural heritage museum, parent-child study tour groups are experiencing the traditional copper art that can only be made after thousands of hard work; the mobile phones of passers-by are heard in the ears Famous Cantonese opera scenes are being played, and the smell of glutinous rice from the refreshment shop is lingering in the air… Strolling through Yongqingfang, my body and mind are at peace. So inclusive and lively, this is probably the fireworks and new vitality of Guangzhou.

Let the context last and make the city more beautiful With charm. Yongqingfang is like an exquisite bookmark. From here, you can read Guangzhou’s past, present and future.

(Written by: Liu Mingmei Reviewed by: Li Yanling)