Qianmen revives dreams of old Beijing

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-29 11:31

The official opening ceremony of Qianmen Street, a traditional commercial area, in Beijing yesterday.

The ancient Qianmen Street, one of the most attractive historical sites in Beijing, finally reopened for business yesterday, after six years of refurbishment.

The new-look Qianmen, the most popular street during the Ming and Qing dynasties, has 103 stores, of which 81 are famous Chinese brands including Quanjude (Beijing Roast Duck), Tongrentang drug store, and Neiliansheng cloth shoes.

International fashion brands have also opened stores on the popular commercial street, including Rolex, Zara, and Western food stores like Starbucks and Haagen-Dazs. The street has been modeled on its faade in the 1920s and 30s.

It is the second pedestrian thoroughfare in the Chinese capital, after Wangfujing Street, the downtown shopping district.

Peng Yuezhen, a 78-year-old Beijinger, said Qianmen was a messy market street in her youth.

"I still remember the first time I came here 57 years ago. The street was so narrow that could only pass two or three people. It was a dirt road at that time which made the street really bad especially on rainy days," she said.

Peng came to Beijing in 1952 after graduating from Hunan University and said that since that time she had witnessed dramatic changes in the city.

"Beijing was not yet a popular place at that time. There were always sandstorms and many places of interest were not well protected," she said.

"But now, the city and many of its old places are quite clean and beautiful such as Qianmen."

Qianmen was once well known for traditional local food. It is said that emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty even once slipped out from the Forbidden City to try ravioli there.

Many tourists from other parts of the country were also at the official launch of Qianmen Street yesterday, and took great interest in its transformation.

Liu Yulan, who traveled to Beijing with her husband and two grandchildren, said: "It is quite beautiful and we can buy many local things here."

For businesses such as Neiliansheng, with a 156-year history of making cloth shoes, having a new store in Qianmen is a fresh start.

"To open a new store in Qianmen is a good chance for the ancient center of Beijing to be back at the center again," said Wang Qiang, assistant manager of Neiliansheng, the old Beijing shoe brand.