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Historic treasure trove filled with gems for visitors
By Xu Wenwen |
00:00 UTC+8 July 23, 2012
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QIAOXIZHI Street in north Hangzhou boasts the greatest number of intact folk houses from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) among all the areas along Grand Canal, and, following a 2010 facelift, focuses on folk culture and health.
The street is west of Gongchen Bridge, which was firstly built in 1631 and then rebuilt in 1714, and is both the longest and tallest stone arch bridge in Hangzhou.
The appearance of Qiaoxizhi Street is in keeping with the old stone-brick-packed bridge. Visitors can see the stone-paved roadway, old wooden walkways along the river still in use today and renovated black-and-white traditional houses with upturned eaves that are now home to restaurants, stores and museums.
Despite its rich heritage, this historical hot spot has far fewer tourists than other areas and is a fascinating area to while away an afternoon.
Tao Yi Tian Ceramic Studio
With a broken ceramic piece serving as its shop sign, this studio is somewhere to buy pottery and try your hand at making your own ceramics. Store owner Jiang Qi studied ceramics at the China Academy of Art - graduating last year - and opened the store two months ago.
Items for sale include pendants and bracelets from 20 yuan (US$3.1) to 40 yuan, and pottery works, including vases, pots, sculptures and censers made by ceramics students at the China Academy of Art.
The main business of the studio is DIY pottery, which costs 65 yuan per piece and does not limit the quantity of clay. Customers create their clay masterpiece, then the store fires it, with the final product ready a fortnight later.
Address: 7 Qiaoxizhi Street
Tel: 180-6978-0571
Xiaofeng Bookstore/Nan Pai San Shu
Xiaofeng Bookstore is a popular private book store in Hangzhou that opened its branch on Qiaoxizhi Street last September, with the cooperation with Nan Pai San Shu, author of the best-selling series "Secrets of a Grave Robber," which, to date, runs to eight books. So close is the association that the store is also known as "Nan Pai San Shu."
Featuring two shelves devoted to "Secrets of a Grave Robber," the shop is a rendezvous for fans of Nan Pai San Shu, and the writer himself shows up from time to time.
Since the bookstore is not large, it mainly sells best sellers and novels, plus stationery and paintings.
Address: 30 Qiaoxizhi Street
Fang Hui Chun Tang TCM Clinic
Located opposite Gongchen Bridge, Fang Hui Chun Tang TCM Clinic epitomizes one of the street's specialties - health.
The traditional Chinese medicine clinic was founded in the 1930s and its premises cover two floors.
The first floor sells traditional herbs and medicines, such as ginseng and tonic wine.
The second floor is a TCM clinic, with practitioners including a pediatrician, ophthalmologist and acupuncture specialist.
The clinic deserves a visit for the building and fittings themselves, featuring elegant woodcarvings, vintage electric fans and crimson old-style wood stairs and pillars.
Address: 1 Qiaoxizhi Street
Tel: (0571) 8993-1606
FAC Essential Oil and Cosmetics Store
FAC stands for flower and clover, and is a chain that provides essential oils and other cosmetics imported from France. The store on Qiaoxizhi Street is also a place that trains aromatherapy professionals.
Walking into the small shop, visitors will be impressed by the natural aroma from all kinds of essential oils displayed on shelves.
Staff there can "prescribe" different mixed essential oil to each customer, and essential oil cream and toner are available - all without preservatives, so they need to be used up in three months.
Flower teas are also on offer for less than 30 yuan per pot. Each type of tea has its own function, such as skin lightening, weight loss and providing relief from heat.
The second floor of the store is the aromatherapy training center, one of only a handful on the Chinese mainland, and is hosting public lectures from this weekend.
Founder Fang Junping is the first man from Chinese mainland to become a member of the International Federation of Professional Aromatherapy.
Address: 26 Qiaoxizhi Street
Tel: (0571) 8819-6015
Memorial Temple of Zhang Daxian
This is the Taoist temple of Zhang Shenggui, who was a Taoist and doctor in the Qing Dynasty. After his death, Emperor Guangxu built a temple for Zhang and called him Zhang Daxian - which literally means "God Zhang."
Outside the temple is a stone wall with a Taoist idiom "Zi Qi Dong Lai" (The purple air, a propitious omen, comes from the east, ) engraved on the front, with "God Zhang" and auspicious plants carved on the back.
Some rules need to be obeyed when visiting a Taoist temple: pets are not allowed; visitors cannot photograph the statue of the god; and smoking and drinking alcohol in the temple is prohibited.
Address: 6 Qiaoxizhi Street
The street is west of Gongchen Bridge, which was firstly built in 1631 and then rebuilt in 1714, and is both the longest and tallest stone arch bridge in Hangzhou.
The appearance of Qiaoxizhi Street is in keeping with the old stone-brick-packed bridge. Visitors can see the stone-paved roadway, old wooden walkways along the river still in use today and renovated black-and-white traditional houses with upturned eaves that are now home to restaurants, stores and museums.
Despite its rich heritage, this historical hot spot has far fewer tourists than other areas and is a fascinating area to while away an afternoon.
Tao Yi Tian Ceramic Studio
With a broken ceramic piece serving as its shop sign, this studio is somewhere to buy pottery and try your hand at making your own ceramics. Store owner Jiang Qi studied ceramics at the China Academy of Art - graduating last year - and opened the store two months ago.
Items for sale include pendants and bracelets from 20 yuan (US$3.1) to 40 yuan, and pottery works, including vases, pots, sculptures and censers made by ceramics students at the China Academy of Art.
The main business of the studio is DIY pottery, which costs 65 yuan per piece and does not limit the quantity of clay. Customers create their clay masterpiece, then the store fires it, with the final product ready a fortnight later.
Address: 7 Qiaoxizhi Street
Tel: 180-6978-0571
Xiaofeng Bookstore/Nan Pai San Shu
Xiaofeng Bookstore is a popular private book store in Hangzhou that opened its branch on Qiaoxizhi Street last September, with the cooperation with Nan Pai San Shu, author of the best-selling series "Secrets of a Grave Robber," which, to date, runs to eight books. So close is the association that the store is also known as "Nan Pai San Shu."
Featuring two shelves devoted to "Secrets of a Grave Robber," the shop is a rendezvous for fans of Nan Pai San Shu, and the writer himself shows up from time to time.
Since the bookstore is not large, it mainly sells best sellers and novels, plus stationery and paintings.
Address: 30 Qiaoxizhi Street
Fang Hui Chun Tang TCM Clinic
Located opposite Gongchen Bridge, Fang Hui Chun Tang TCM Clinic epitomizes one of the street's specialties - health.
The traditional Chinese medicine clinic was founded in the 1930s and its premises cover two floors.
The first floor sells traditional herbs and medicines, such as ginseng and tonic wine.
The second floor is a TCM clinic, with practitioners including a pediatrician, ophthalmologist and acupuncture specialist.
The clinic deserves a visit for the building and fittings themselves, featuring elegant woodcarvings, vintage electric fans and crimson old-style wood stairs and pillars.
Address: 1 Qiaoxizhi Street
Tel: (0571) 8993-1606
FAC Essential Oil and Cosmetics Store
FAC stands for flower and clover, and is a chain that provides essential oils and other cosmetics imported from France. The store on Qiaoxizhi Street is also a place that trains aromatherapy professionals.
Walking into the small shop, visitors will be impressed by the natural aroma from all kinds of essential oils displayed on shelves.
Staff there can "prescribe" different mixed essential oil to each customer, and essential oil cream and toner are available - all without preservatives, so they need to be used up in three months.
Flower teas are also on offer for less than 30 yuan per pot. Each type of tea has its own function, such as skin lightening, weight loss and providing relief from heat.
The second floor of the store is the aromatherapy training center, one of only a handful on the Chinese mainland, and is hosting public lectures from this weekend.
Founder Fang Junping is the first man from Chinese mainland to become a member of the International Federation of Professional Aromatherapy.
Address: 26 Qiaoxizhi Street
Tel: (0571) 8819-6015
Memorial Temple of Zhang Daxian
This is the Taoist temple of Zhang Shenggui, who was a Taoist and doctor in the Qing Dynasty. After his death, Emperor Guangxu built a temple for Zhang and called him Zhang Daxian - which literally means "God Zhang."
Outside the temple is a stone wall with a Taoist idiom "Zi Qi Dong Lai" (The purple air, a propitious omen, comes from the east, ) engraved on the front, with "God Zhang" and auspicious plants carved on the back.
Some rules need to be obeyed when visiting a Taoist temple: pets are not allowed; visitors cannot photograph the statue of the god; and smoking and drinking alcohol in the temple is prohibited.
Address: 6 Qiaoxizhi Street
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