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Old Kunming: Beimen Jie and the tortoise tailWednesday, 30th July 2008 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (1)
Editor's note: Every week for the remainder of 2008 GoKunming will publish photos from the collection of Auguste François (1857-1935), who served as French consul in south China between 1896 and 1904, during which he spent several years in Kunming. The photos have been provided by Kunming resident and private collector Yin Xiaojun (殷晓俊). GoKunming thanks Yin Xiaojun for providing us a glimpse of Kunming at the beginning of the 20th Century. Year: 1900 Subject: North gate (beichengmen, 北城门) of Kunming's old city wall Location: Present-day Beimen Jie (北门街), just outside of Yunnan University's east gate, facing south Background: Built during the Ming Dynasty and demolished centuries later in 1952, Kunming's city wall is but a memory for those old enough to have seen it. For the rest of us, the wall lives on primarily in the form of street names. Qingnian Lu, or 'Youth Road', was named after the youth who were hired to demolish the massive edifice. The wall was indeed an impressive architectural feat – it stood 13 meters high and contained an area roughly equivalent to that surrounded today by the first ring road. The wall lives on today in more than just memory, even some laws and regulations are based upon the old wall. For example, sanlunche - the ubiquitous three-wheeled carts seen throughout Kunming and the rest of China – are not allowed to enter the area within the old city wall (chengnei, 城内) until after 6:00 pm. As with many Chinese cities, the ancient practice of geomancy known as fengshui played a major role in Kunming's initial layout, and the city wall was a major part of that. Below is a highly detailed map drawn by French Consul Auguste François in 1900.
In this map of Kunming within the wall, certain Kunming landmarks still standing today are visible – Cuihu (Green Lake) is situated in the northwest quadrant, the opposing gates of Jinma Biji Fang are located just north of the south gate and the Dade Temple twin pagodas are located in the northeast quadrant. With a little imagination, one can see the shape of a tortoise facing south – which is the idea behind the layout of Kunming and its wall. The photo at the top of this post is of the wall's north gate, which was supposed to be the tortoise's 'tail'. Situated between what is now Yuanxi Lu and Yunnan University's east gate, the area to the left (east) of the gate in the photo is Yuantong Shan, where Yuantong Temple and the Kunming Zoo are located today. To the right (west) is present-day Yunnan University. In 1900, the area outside of the north gate was much less pleasant than within the gate – the area primarily served as a dumping ground for garbage, as well as a burial ground. The image below is a photograph taken in July, 2008 by GoKunming – 108 years after François recorded the north gate. The north gate is gone, replaced by the Yunnan Provincial Song and Dance Ensemble (云南省歌舞剧院). The only reminder that the imposing north gate once looked out from this hilltop is the name of the street - Beimen Jie, or 'North Gate Street'
Update: It turns out Kunming's old city wall is not 100% gone. There is a small, hard-to-find portion still standing behind the Yunnan University foreign students dormitory. Reader Xiefei comments: "There is actually one last segment of the wall still intact. It stretches along the back of the restaurants in wenhua xiang that abut the Yunda foreign students dorm. The wall can be seen from some of those dorm rooms, and was visible from the street a few years ago when many of those restaurants were rebuilt." We went behind the Yunda foreign students dorm today [July 31] and found what Xiefei was talking about, which definitely looked like an old city wall:
According to a security guard working nearby, it is indeed the old city wall. Thanks to Xiefei for pointing that out. Related articles: Auguste François, Yin Xiaojun and Kunming at the end of the Qing Dynasty Yuantong Temple's secret colonial past Old Kunming: Eastern and Western Pagodas Tags: Auguste François, Green Lake Park, Ming Dynasty, old Kunming, Qing Dynasty, Ranbu Xiang, Wenlin Jie, Wu Sangui, Xima He, Yangyu Xiang, Yin Xiaojun, Yunnan Fu
Editor's note: Every week for the remainder of 2008 GoKunming will publish photos from the collection of Auguste François (1857-1935), who served as French consul in south China between 1896 and 1904, during which he spent several years in Kunming. The photos have been provided by Kunming resident and private collector Yin Xiaojun (殷晓俊). GoKunming thanks Yin Xiaojun for providing us a glimpse of Kunming at the beginning of the 20th Century. Year: 1901 Subject: Foreground - Xima He (洗马河, 'Horse-washing River'), background – Honghua Fu (洪化府, 'Honghua Palace') Location: Ranbu Xiang (染布巷), facing east-southeast, about 100 meters west of Green Lake Park's west gate Background: In 1901 Auguste François took this photograph of an area familiar to many people today known as Ranbu Xiang (染布巷), or 'Cloth-dyeing alley'. Ranbu Xiang is located roughly 100 meters west of Green Lake park's west gate, at the bottom of Qianju Jie as it comes down from Wenlin Jie. At the beginning of the 20th Century, Ranbu Xiang was actually a small river known as Xima He (洗马河), or 'Horse-washing River'. Area residents would dye cloth and then dry it in the sun – large pieces of cloth can be seen drying on the ground in the background. After the dyed cloth was dry, it would be washed in Xima He, which flowed out of what is today Green Lake Park. Xima He wasn't only used for washing cloth – on the right there is a woman holding a urinating toddler, a practice that can still occasionally be seen in downtown Kunming. In the background is Honghua Fu (洪化府) or 'Honghua Palace' the guandi (官邸), or official residence, of the infamous Wu Sangui (吴三桂). Wu Sangui is one of the most famous characters from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, primarily because he is considered a traitor to both. In 1644, while serving the Ming Dynasty, General Wu opened the gates at Shanhaiguan, Hebei province, allowing Manchu troops to enter what was considered Han China at the time. Soon thereafter, the Manchus established the Qing Dynasty and gave Wu the name Pingxi Wang – or more simply, king of Yunnan. During his time in Kunming, then known as Yunnan-Fu (云南府), Wu built Honghua Fu on what is now the west side of Green Lake Park. During this time, he paid tribute to the Qing while building his own army and preparing to revolt, which he did in 1674, when he declared the founding of a new incarnation of the ancient Zhou Dynasty. Wu made Hengyang, Hunan the dynastic capital and named himself Emperor with the name of his reign being Zhaowu (昭武). He was succeeded by his son Wu Shifan (吴世璠), whose reign was entitled Honghua (洪化). This reign came to a quick end after defeat by the Qing.
The image directly above is a photograph taken in May, 2008 by GoKunming – 107 years after François decided to photograph Xima He and Honghua Fu. Today there is no trace of the stream, there is only the Haoshun Lu Farmers' Market. Many Kunming residents refer to Ranbu Xiang as 'Potato Alley' (洋芋巷, Yangyu Xiang), due to the large number of snack shops offering fried potatoes there. Honghua Fu is survived by Honghua Qiao (洪化桥) and Honghua Xiang (洪化巷), a road and an alley on the east side of the Kunming Grand Park Hotel (formerly Harbour Plaza Kunming). Today, the area formerly occupied by Honghua Fu is now home to the Jiangwu Tang (讲武堂), a former military academy and training facility known for its distinctive yellow color (see photo below) and vast interior courtyard. The Jiangwu Tang was formerly known as the Wubei Xuetang (武备学堂).
Tags: Auguste François, Green Lake Park, Honghua Fu, Honghua Qiao, Honghua Xiang, Ming Dynasty, old Kunming, Qing Dynasty, Ranbu Xiang, Wenlin Jie, Wu Sangui, Xima He, Yangyu Xiang, Yin Xiaojun, Yunnan Fu Olympic torch in Lijiang, next stop Shangri-laTuesday, 10th June 2008 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
The Olympic torch relay is passing through Lijiang today as it continues its path through Yunnan province toward earthquake-ravaged Sichuan. This morning, 13-year-old Zhang Zilan (张紫兰) of Wenchuan, Sichuan shared her torch relay responsibilities with 12-year-old He Zhensheng (和震生). Zhang is one the many children from the earthquake disaster zone that have been relocated to Lijiang, where they are now attending school. He, whose name Zhensheng literally means "born from a quake", was born during the deadly 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Lijiang in 1996. Tomorrow the torch will make its last stop in Yunnan in Shangri-la (Zhongdian). The next day, the ethnically Tibetan area of Shangri-la will hold its annual horse racing festival (赛马节), which was supposed to take place on Sunday but was postponed by the local government – thanks to reader Steph Jensen for notifying us of the postponement. Editor's note: If you have a story idea or a tip you'd like to share with GoKunming please feel free to contact us via our contact form. Image: clzg.cn Tags: Beichen, He Zhensheng, Lijiang, Olympic torch, Olympics, Shangri-la, Steph Jensen, Wenchuan earthquake, Wenlin Jie, Zhang Zilan, Zhongdian For all those people that want to squeeze some Halloween fun into the coming weekend, the second annual Wenlin Jie area pub crawl will take Saturday night at eight o'clock. Starting at the Yunda Sunshine Cafe just outside of the Yunnan University north gate on Yieryi Dajie, the roaming costume party will visit several bars before finishing at Chapter One. All costume-wearing partygoers will receive discounts on beers at each stop and there will be Halloween-themed drinking games. Tags: Halloween, Wenlin Jie The Wenlin Jie area between Yunnan University and Green Lake Park offers more culinary variety than anywhere else in Kunming. Recent menu additions at two of the area's most popular restaurants have added some welcome new options for diners looking for something new to sip or munch on. Salvador's Coffee House has introduced a new menu keeping most items from its previous menu and adding new dishes such as teriyaki chicken salad and falafel. Drinkwise, Salvador's has upgraded all of its leaf teas to organic teas from local tea purveyors Andao Tea. Caffeine junkies will be pleased to note that Salvador's now offers Kunming's first bottomless cup of fresh brewed coffee, only 10 yuan from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. Salvador's Coffee House 萨尔瓦多咖啡馆 76 Wenhua Xiang, Wenlin Jie 文林街文化巷76号 Tel: 5363525 Long after the closing of Shanti Shanti more than a year ago, Indian food has finally returned to the Wenlin Jie area. Starting this week, Chapter One is offering an Indian menu featuring classic Indian eats including samosas, pakoras, curries, korma and rogan josh dishes made with lamb, beef, chicken, seafood or veggies. Chapter One also has plans to expand its sizeable Indian menu in the coming weeks, when it will add tandoori dishes and Indian breads. Chapter One 146 Wenlin Jie 文林街146号 Tel: 5365635 Kunming isn't the only place in Yunnan with new Indian food options. The Dining Room on Renmin Lu in Dali has switched menus from Sichuan-Yunnan fusion to an Indian breakfast menu from 8:30 am to noon and a Burmese and Thai menu from noon until 9:00 pm. Aside from standard Indian food including dal, samosas, chapatti and yogurt lassis, The Dining Room is also offering som tam (Thai papaya salad), green and coconut curries, pad thai and tom yum kung. Dining Room's owners are also in the process of opening an all-Indian restaurant in the coming weeks, also on Renmin Lu. The Dining Room 食堂 Dali Old Town, 137 Renmin Lu 大理古城人民路137号 Tel: (0872) 2670266 Tags: Chapter One, food and drink, Salvador's Coffee House, Wenlin Jie
Kunming has undergone a bit of a makeover in recent weeks since the beginning of citywide demolition of lean-tos and small stores in between larger buildings.
For most demolition sites, the public bathroom on Wenhua Xiang for example, demolition was quickly followed by the planting of trees, shrubs and flowers. While most people don't object to the replacement of a public toilet's miasma with a patch of green, for Wenhua Xiang restaurants and bars - most of which have minimal plumbing incapable of handling the 'big convenience' - this raises the question of where customers can go when nature calls. [FYI, the closest public toilets to Wenhua Xiang are now the one on central Wenlin Jie at Xiansheng Po and the little one tucked away in Tianjundian Xiang in the alley connecting Paul's with Wenlin Jie.]
Wheatfield Bookstore 麦田书店 Address: Tianjundian Xiang 天君殿巷 Phone: 653 3912, 159 8711 3281 Top image: Xiao Yang Tags: demolition, Wenhua Xiang, Wenlin Jie |
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