China News Service, Guangzhou, January 27th: "Three flavors" of Guangzhou's century-old arcade street
Author Cheng Jingwei Chen Yuehui
Yide Road on the edge of the Pearl River is known as the most "flavorful" ancient street in Guangzhou. The entire street is filled with the salty smell of seafood and a strong historical flavor. Now, as the Spring Festival approaches, there is a unique Guangfu New Year flavor.
Yide Road is located in Yuexiu District, Guangzhou. It has formed a Yide Road business district with a total area of about 1.5 square kilometers and is bounded by Haizhu Square in the east, Yanjiang Road in the south, Renmin South Road in the west, and Daxin Road in the north. Its direction is roughly parallel to the Pearl River. . Yide Road has been in use since the Republic of China. The reason why it is called Yide Road is because there used to be a "Yide Society" nearby, so it was named that way.
As the Spring Festival of 2024 approaches, the shops on Yide Road in Yuexiu District, Guangzhou are filled with red lanterns. Photo by Chen Yuehui
The stone-chambered Sacred Heart Cathedral, founded in 1863, is located on Yide Road. It is now a national key cultural relic protection unit and one of the four all-stone Gothic church buildings in the world. At that time, Chinese craftsmen incorporated many Chinese elements into the stone chamber architecture, making the building full of Chinese and Western colors. More than a hundred years later, this place has become a "check-in place" for Internet celebrities.
Due to its convenient transportation by land and water, Yide Road has been prosperous in commerce since ancient times. From the earliest hemp products business, to later vegetable, fruit and fish markets, and then to the famous seafood and dried fruit distribution center at home and abroad, the business here has been prosperous for a long time. The Cantonese-style arcade on Yide Road, which is used for both commercial and residential purposes and can provide shelter from wind and rain, is a testimony to its century-old history.
According to the official website of the Guangzhou Dried Seafood Industry Chamber of Commerce, the Yidelu Dried Seafood Market has developed into the largest dried seafood distribution center in the world. According to incomplete statistics, the sales volume of Yidelu Dried Seafood Accounts for about 70% of the country's total.
When walking on Yide Road, waves of fishy smell hit your face, which may be difficult for some people to accept, but "Lao Guang" (a common name for Guangzhou people) said: "The fishy smell" means "there is life". Although it is freezing cold at the moment, the sounds of merchants selling goods, the sound of music playing in stores, and the sounds of customers bargaining can be heard all the time.
Various shops display a dazzling array of products such as isinglass, sea cucumbers, abalone, scallops, and shrimps. Some shop owners said that after entering the twelfth lunar month, the number of customers wholesale and buying new year products has increased significantly, and the sales volume of dried seafood has been considerable.
As the Spring Festival of 2024 approaches, citizens buy seafood products at shops on Yide Road, Guangzhou. Photo by Chen Yuehui
Many Chaoshan people started family businesses here. Boss Liu and Boss Huang both took over their father's business when they were young. Twenty years have passed in a flash. They admitted frankly that business will improve in 2023, and seafood products are exported to many countries such as Malaysia and Thailand, and the export volume is far more than domestic sales.
Red lanterns, blessing calligraphy, New Year hangings, red packets... What is different from usual is that touches of "Chinese red" can be seen everywhere on Yide Road, directly filling the New Year atmosphere. Items such as red packets and ornaments with elements of the Year of the Dragon are very popular among the public.
Along the way, there was an endless stream of citizens coming to “sweep goods”. Ms. Ding, a citizen, said that when she came to Yide Road and saw the red lanterns and the characters "Fu" all over the street, her most intuitive feeling was that "it's the new year."
Indeed, in Guangzhou, apart from the Spring Festival "Flower Market", the most festive place is Yide Road.
Commerce has flourished for thousands of years and is still full of vitality. Today, Yide Road's business forms are more diverse and diverse. The entire business district with Yide Road as its core has five major chambers of commerce in the food, seafood and dried fruit, toys, and shoe industries, and about 30 professional markets.
The Yide Road business district is transforming into customized corporate headquarters and shared offices. Industrial forms such as original design, animation incubation, trendy products, e-commerce, and live broadcasting are also emerging here. (over)