History is the memory of the city, and culture is the soul of the city.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized the importance of urban historical and cultural heritage protection and historical and cultural inheritance, pointing out the direction and providing fundamental guidelines for the protection and development of ancient cities.
From a city gate, an old street to an ancient city, the story has a long ancient charm and joys from near and far, and is filled with cultural confidence that integrates history and culture with modern life.
[Goal] "We must cherish the city's historical and cultural heritage, develop while protecting, and protect while developing" - General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out during an inspection in Tianjin in January 2019
[Coordinates] Yongning Gate of Xi’an City Wall, Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province
Kou Chonghui, the cultural relics inspection administrator, has been particularly busy these days.
"On February 2, the Xi'an City Wall Scenic Area will light up the Year of the Dragon lanterns at Yongning Gate. We must step up inspections of this section of the city wall." Kou Chonghui has 8 years of "city inspection" experience. "The focus is to intervene in advance and reduce risks. For example, when it is detected that the vibration frequency of a certain section of the subway may have an impact on the city wall, we will require the subway to slow down when reaching this section."
More than 8,000 monitoring points guard the safety of the city wall and ensure that various nearby activities are carried out without exceeding the maximum carrying capacity of the city wall.
The Xi'an City Wall, first built in the Sui and Tang Dynasties and expanded in the Ming Dynasty, is 13.74 kilometers long. It is the oldest, largest and best-preserved ancient city wall building in China. Like a resolute and mighty guard, it has been guarding this ancient city for thousands of years.
Zhang Peilin, a Xi'an citizen who is nearly 70 years old, still remembers the appearance of the Xi'an city wall in her youth. That was about half a century ago, and the Xi'an city wall was in ruins, with overgrown weeds at the top and garbage piled at the base. Yongning Gate is one of the main city gates in Xi'an. Although it is relatively well preserved, it is also in a state of decay.
Today, Yongning Gate is no longer what Zhang Peilin remembered. In the early morning, the suspension bridge was slowly lowered, and the golden-armored warriors strode out from the city wall; in the evening, the lights around the city gate bloomed, and an endless stream of tourists came here to "check in" and take photos. Every year, cultural and sports activities such as the City Wall Marathon, New Year Lantern Festival, intangible cultural heritage performances, and fitness walks are held here.
Over more than ten years and more than 60,000 photos, Xi'an citizen Han Cunzhi recorded the changes in Xi'an's city wall with his lens. Focusing on the scenery at the beginning, I witnessed the change of the water in the moat from turbidity to clearness, and the change of the park around the city from chaos to regulation. Nowadays, she prefers to take pictures of people, recording the fluttering Han costumes of tourists, the blooming flowers, and the young people running and riding on the city walls, as if they were meeting the ancient capital more than a thousand years ago across the long river of history.
From military defense facilities, to national treasure-level cultural relics, to urban public spaces and cultural spaces. The changes in the city gate reflect the changes in the concept of protection. Inside the city wall is the fireworks world of old Xi'an; outside the city wall is the brilliance of the modern city. The fully connected city wall blends in with modern urban life.
Zhang Peilin loves to walk in the city-ring park at the foot of the city wall. When talking about the Xi'an city wall, she knows it very well: "Changle Gate, Anding Gate, Yongning Gate, and Anyuan Gate are the names of the four main gates of the Xi'an City Wall. Take one word from each to form 'Chang'an Yong'an', this is exactly what the Chinese people have been yearning for and pursuing for a better life for thousands of years."
[Goal] "It must be inherited not only in material form, but also in the heart" - General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out during an inspection in Jiangsu in July 2023
[Coordinates] Pingjiang Road, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province
It was around 7 o'clock in the morning, and Pingjiang Road had just woken up.
58-year-old Yao Zhijian helps his 5-year-old granddaughter get dressed and have breakfast. Starting from Dongshengli, along the clear river, passing through tall and short ancient trees, and passing scattered old houses, the grandfather and grandson walked hand in hand for 10 minutes to the entrance of the kindergarten.
During the short commute to and from school, Yao Zhijian would always talk to his granddaughter about the events on Pingjiang Road: No. 3 Niujia Lane was the former residence of Pan Shien, the number one scholar during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. Daru Lane was named in memory of Jingchen, the great Confucian king of the Ming Dynasty. Historian Gu Jiegang’s former residence was in Gu Family Garden...
"One Pingjiang Road is half of Gusu City." Pingjiang Road is 1,606 meters long, connected to the Humble Administrator's Garden in the north and overlooking the twin towers of Luohan Yuan in the south. Pingjiang Historical and Cultural District has 20 cultural preservation units at all levels and 45 controlled and protected buildings. It is known as the "Jiangnan Cultural Museum without Walls."
Ruan Yongsan was born in Niujia Lane, Suzhou. Nearly eighty years old, he led young people to visit old streets and alleys, opening doors and visiting ancient stories, such as Xuanqiao Alley, Shilin Temple Alley, Chuanfang Alley, Donghuaqiao Alley, and Weidao Temple. ... On-site visits make the history recorded in books three-dimensional and vivid.
He is both a beneficiary and an inheritor. Yao Zhijian and Ruan Yongsan, as representatives of the 13,000 aborigines who still live in the Pingjiang Historical and Cultural District, embody the ancient city of Suzhou's attitude towards historical context. Inheriting and carrying forward excellent history and culture requires not only protecting objects, but also retaining people, and more importantly, cultivating the soul of culture.
"Blue bricks are accompanied by tile paint, and white horses tread on new mud..." Hidden on the banks of the Pingjiang River is the Pipa Pingtan Art Museum, where an endless stream of young people come here just to listen to a piece of Wu dialect called "Slow Voice." The one-hour show, with two groups of four actors, performs 6 to 7 times a day, and almost every venue is full.
"Dingle bell..." The school bell rang, and the weekly Friday afternoon club activities of Suzhou Pingjiang Experimental School next to Pingjiang Road began. There are various intangible cultural heritage-themed societies such as Kunqu Opera, Pingtan, Bamboo Carving, and Stele Exquisition, which sow the seeds of inheritance deep in the hearts of students.
The protection of “objects”, the inheritance of “arts”, the cultivation of “people”… Pingjiang Road’s abundant cultural tension attracts people from all over the world. According to statistics, during the New Year's Day holiday in 2024, the average daily passenger flow in Pingjiang Historical and Cultural District was 114,000, an increase of 234% from the New Year's Day holiday in 2023.
[Goal] "Continue the urban context and make history and contemporary complement each other" - General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized during his inspection in Guangdong in October 2020
[Coordinates] Pingyao Ancient City, Shanxi Province
On January 26, Wang Longfei posted a message on WeChat Moments to celebrate that the Pingyao Ancient City infrastructure upgrade and reconstruction project successfully passed the on-site completion acceptance. Not only he, the deputy commander-in-chief of the project, is happy, but also the people who still live in the ancient city.
Yang Xiaodong, 58, lives at No. 37 Yaochang Street. 15 years ago, he renovated the historical building in his family's third courtyard and opened a B&B. Previously, the sewer well in front of his house smelled bad in the summer. During the peak tourist season, power outages and low water flow caused inconvenience to his life.
"These problems have been solved. Now we can take hot baths, flush toilets, and have air conditioning and heating at home." Yang Xiaodong said that every summer he likes to sit in the courtyard, drink tea, enjoy the coolness, and talk to tourists about the past life of the ancient city. In this life, when talking about the rise, we will proudly emphasize: "Our ancient city is still a 'living' city."
The ancient city of Pingyao is included in the World Cultural Heritage List and is one of the most well-preserved ancient cities in China. After more than 2,800 years of baptism, the ancient city of 2.25 square kilometers preserves more than 300 cultural relics and nearly 4,000 traditional buildings. In the ancient city of blue bricks and black tiles, a large amount of traditional culture is vividly passed down in daily life.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Pingyao's city walls have been rescued and reinforced, historical buildings have been maintained, and a long-term mechanism for the rectification of illegal construction in the ancient city has been established. At the same time, measures to improve people's livelihood have been solidly advanced: Yingxun Park, parking lots, and tourist service centers have been built outside the ancient city; coal-fired boilers of merchants in the ancient city have been cleared, modern tourist toilets have been built, and garbage classification has been implemented; electricity, communications, Comprehensive pipeline upgrades and road reconstruction projects for water supply, rainwater, and sewage have been completed one by one.
The ancient city has enjoyed peaceful times under protection, and its culture has become increasingly prosperous during development. The large-scale indoor situational experience drama "Meeting Pingyao Again" outside the city walls of Pingyao performs the legend of Shanxi merchants' faith; Pingyao beef and polished lacquerware will achieve an output value of 2.96 billion yuan in 2023, and intangible cultural heritage will be carried forward through industrialization; the ancient city will receive tourists in 2023 9.09 million people, ticket revenue 120 million yuan...
The ancient city of Pingyao is the accumulated history and the "smoky" present; it is the nostalgia in the hearts of hometown people and the scenery in the eyes of outsiders. The "living ancient city" witnesses the complementarity of history and contemporary times, and also conveys the historical consciousness and cultural confidence that protects the cultural roots of the Chinese nation.
[Reporter’s Notes]
In addition to meticulous protection and inheritance of the original flavor, the people and things in Yongning Gate in Xi'an, Pingjiang Road in Suzhou and Pingyao Ancient City provide us with new thinking on how to let the ancient city inherit its historical context and enjoy the joy of being near and far.
Historical and cultural blocks have boundaries, and historical buildings have shapes, but the infiltration and influence of culture are invisible. No matter you come from all over the world, you can taste the poetry and elegance from it.
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that “it is necessary to cherish the city’s historical and cultural heritage, develop in protection, and protect in development.” “It must be inherited not only in physical form, but also in the heart.” “Continue the urban context and make history and contemporary society better.” complement each other.” During the interview, we deeply realized that the General Secretary has profoundly pointed out the correct way to treat China's excellent traditional culture, and also made every Chinese person infiltrate the important task of inheriting and spreading traditional culture into their hearts. The essence of excellent culture will surely be preserved in our hearts. People's hearts remain forever.
Cities come alive because of people. To achieve the goals outlined by General Secretary Xi Jinping, we must not only retain the "form" of the ancient city, but also inherit the inner "spirit".
Lead reporter: Liu Kang
Reporters: Jiang Fang, Yang Yimiao, Wang Xuetao
Produced by: Huo Xiaoguang
Producer: Zhang Xiaosong
Planning: Wang Shuhui, Li Kun, Jiang Fang
Editor: Wang Shuhui, Jia Zhen, Bai Chun
Produced domestically by Xinhua News Agency
(Xinhua News Agency)