Home
» City specials
» Hangzhou
Road's name recalls ancient cure, empathy for poor
By Xu Wenwen |
July 3, 2013, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
IN ancient times, two famous literati served as mayor of Hangzhou - Su Dongpo and Bai Juyi - who were known for writing poetry about the city and doing good deeds for locals.
The city still remembers them through folk stories and names of places or even local dishes.
Huimin Road was named to commemorate Su (1037-1101), a Chinese writer, poet, painter, calligrapher, pharmacologist, gastronome and a statesman of the Song Dynasty (960–1279).
The road's name, literally meaning "to benefit people," was taken from a large pharmacy once located on the road.
Su, who ran the pharmacy, did not charge the poor. He was also credited with helping develop a prescription that helped save locals from the plague.
In 1089, when Su became Hangzhou's mayor for a second time, locals were being sickened by the plague and enduring a crop failure because of bad weather.
During that time, a rich man nicknamed "Millionaire Jin" opened a pharmacy on Jinzi Lane (the former name of Huimin Road). He sold medicine on credit, charging 30 percent interest a month.
Patients who bought his medicine often had to sell their assets in order to pay interest to Jin, even though Jin's medicine wasn't very effective and many were still ill.
When Su visited patients and heard what was happening, he was shocked. Su's wife sold her jewelry so they could open their own pharmacy, right next to the Jin's. The story says Su began to study a medicine prescribed by a doctor friend and developed a remedy that he provided without charge to Hangzhou's citizens.
As it turned out, Jin was infected with the plague, too, and was not cured by his own medicine. He sought help from Su's pharmacy, which charged the millionaire 100 liang (an ancient currency unit) of silver for one treatment of the medicine.
Jin took seven treatments and, after he was partially healed, he asked for more, the story says. In order to obtain more medicine, Su said, he would have to burn all the notes of credit owed by the poor and establish two more pharmacies in other districts in the city so Su could help people there as well.
Su was credited with saving thousands of people, including Jin. All Su's pharmacies carried the name Huimin, so people have called Jinzi Lane Huimin Road since then.
Huimin Road is located in the oldest surviving urban block of Hangzhou, which was built 1,000 years ago and has several cross streets. It housed a palace of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) when the city was its capital.
Today, it still is at the center of downtown. It includes some businesses and homes and has a folksy atmosphere. Shanghai Daily tours the narrow road and finds some locations deserving a visit.
Ayi Milk Tea
The word "ayi" may be familiar. It means middle-aged woman, and can be used to refer to a cleaning lady or aunty. Ayi Milk Tea is a Shanghai brand that is now also in Hangzhou.
A middle-age Hangzhou lady who lives in a residential building on Huimin Road opened the milk tea store there a month ago. It already has won many customers because of its fusion milk tea, which combines milk tea with typical Chinese foods.
Fermented glutinous rice milk tea is worth trying - it contains fermented glutinous rice (jiuniang), which is a sweet, soupy or pudding-like snack containing yeast and Aspergillus oryzae, a fungus used in Chinese cuisine.
Jiuniang was first developed as a by-product of rice wine production. It is mildly alcoholic, contains whole rice grains and is often made with sweet osmanthus flowers in the cuisines of Shanghai and Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.
The drink shows that the flavor is a perfect match for milk tea, which dilutes the smell and taste of jiuniang's alcohol, while jiuniang adds aroma and sweetness to milk tea.
Another signature product is red glutinous rice milk tea. The red glutinous rice tastes lightly sweet and is used with other foods to make desserts.
Yang Yifeng, the ayi's son, says that all products are handmade by his mother with no chemical additives.
Address: 31 Huimin Road
Tel: (0571) 8522-6858
Cafe Niche
The bakery's smell is attractive, as are its prices. Cafe Niche provides a Malaysian-style bakery, milk tea and coffee, with breads costing no more than 8 yuan, and coffees no more than 18 yuan.
All bakery goods are served hot, with a crispy crust and sweet smell, all in a South Asian style. Among its offerings are coconut toast and Nyonya cake. The salty Nyonya cake is a specialty stuffed with curry and chicken.
The coffees are made from beans imported from Malaysia, and Ipoh white coffee, at only 9 yuan, is a favorite. Pulled tea (teh tarik), a signature South Asian drink, is available at the cafe, and bartenders show the trick of "pulling" the liquid from one cup to another at the bar.
Hand-made ice cream also is available with bits of fruit in it.
The take-out window looks very narrow, but the cafe is spacious, with two floors and several dozen tables.
Address: 31 Huimin Road (the store shares a building with Ayi Milk Tea Store)
Tel: (0571) 8715-7809
Nearby lanes
Huimin Road is short and can be covered in a 10-minute walk. But it shares a glorious past with other nearby streets such as Zhongshan Road M., the axis of the city when it was the capital, and Houshi Street, where a palace stood.
Also notable are Huaguang Road, which used to be a commercial thoroughfare leading to downtown's Wushan Square, and Guangfu Road, leading to the West Lake and the homes of many old Hangzhou families.
Time has left its mark in those areas. It is worth the time to walk among lanes in the area with small eateries, noodle restaurants and old-fashioned and cheap barbershops that have served nearby residents for decades.
Some buildings have European-style facades built in the early 20th century, when Western culture was spreadwidely in China.
The city still remembers them through folk stories and names of places or even local dishes.
Huimin Road was named to commemorate Su (1037-1101), a Chinese writer, poet, painter, calligrapher, pharmacologist, gastronome and a statesman of the Song Dynasty (960–1279).
The road's name, literally meaning "to benefit people," was taken from a large pharmacy once located on the road.
Su, who ran the pharmacy, did not charge the poor. He was also credited with helping develop a prescription that helped save locals from the plague.
In 1089, when Su became Hangzhou's mayor for a second time, locals were being sickened by the plague and enduring a crop failure because of bad weather.
During that time, a rich man nicknamed "Millionaire Jin" opened a pharmacy on Jinzi Lane (the former name of Huimin Road). He sold medicine on credit, charging 30 percent interest a month.
Patients who bought his medicine often had to sell their assets in order to pay interest to Jin, even though Jin's medicine wasn't very effective and many were still ill.
When Su visited patients and heard what was happening, he was shocked. Su's wife sold her jewelry so they could open their own pharmacy, right next to the Jin's. The story says Su began to study a medicine prescribed by a doctor friend and developed a remedy that he provided without charge to Hangzhou's citizens.
As it turned out, Jin was infected with the plague, too, and was not cured by his own medicine. He sought help from Su's pharmacy, which charged the millionaire 100 liang (an ancient currency unit) of silver for one treatment of the medicine.
Jin took seven treatments and, after he was partially healed, he asked for more, the story says. In order to obtain more medicine, Su said, he would have to burn all the notes of credit owed by the poor and establish two more pharmacies in other districts in the city so Su could help people there as well.
Su was credited with saving thousands of people, including Jin. All Su's pharmacies carried the name Huimin, so people have called Jinzi Lane Huimin Road since then.
Huimin Road is located in the oldest surviving urban block of Hangzhou, which was built 1,000 years ago and has several cross streets. It housed a palace of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) when the city was its capital.
Today, it still is at the center of downtown. It includes some businesses and homes and has a folksy atmosphere. Shanghai Daily tours the narrow road and finds some locations deserving a visit.
Ayi Milk Tea
The word "ayi" may be familiar. It means middle-aged woman, and can be used to refer to a cleaning lady or aunty. Ayi Milk Tea is a Shanghai brand that is now also in Hangzhou.
A middle-age Hangzhou lady who lives in a residential building on Huimin Road opened the milk tea store there a month ago. It already has won many customers because of its fusion milk tea, which combines milk tea with typical Chinese foods.
Fermented glutinous rice milk tea is worth trying - it contains fermented glutinous rice (jiuniang), which is a sweet, soupy or pudding-like snack containing yeast and Aspergillus oryzae, a fungus used in Chinese cuisine.
Jiuniang was first developed as a by-product of rice wine production. It is mildly alcoholic, contains whole rice grains and is often made with sweet osmanthus flowers in the cuisines of Shanghai and Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.
The drink shows that the flavor is a perfect match for milk tea, which dilutes the smell and taste of jiuniang's alcohol, while jiuniang adds aroma and sweetness to milk tea.
Another signature product is red glutinous rice milk tea. The red glutinous rice tastes lightly sweet and is used with other foods to make desserts.
Yang Yifeng, the ayi's son, says that all products are handmade by his mother with no chemical additives.
Address: 31 Huimin Road
Tel: (0571) 8522-6858
Cafe Niche
The bakery's smell is attractive, as are its prices. Cafe Niche provides a Malaysian-style bakery, milk tea and coffee, with breads costing no more than 8 yuan, and coffees no more than 18 yuan.
All bakery goods are served hot, with a crispy crust and sweet smell, all in a South Asian style. Among its offerings are coconut toast and Nyonya cake. The salty Nyonya cake is a specialty stuffed with curry and chicken.
The coffees are made from beans imported from Malaysia, and Ipoh white coffee, at only 9 yuan, is a favorite. Pulled tea (teh tarik), a signature South Asian drink, is available at the cafe, and bartenders show the trick of "pulling" the liquid from one cup to another at the bar.
Hand-made ice cream also is available with bits of fruit in it.
The take-out window looks very narrow, but the cafe is spacious, with two floors and several dozen tables.
Address: 31 Huimin Road (the store shares a building with Ayi Milk Tea Store)
Tel: (0571) 8715-7809
Nearby lanes
Huimin Road is short and can be covered in a 10-minute walk. But it shares a glorious past with other nearby streets such as Zhongshan Road M., the axis of the city when it was the capital, and Houshi Street, where a palace stood.
Also notable are Huaguang Road, which used to be a commercial thoroughfare leading to downtown's Wushan Square, and Guangfu Road, leading to the West Lake and the homes of many old Hangzhou families.
Time has left its mark in those areas. It is worth the time to walk among lanes in the area with small eateries, noodle restaurants and old-fashioned and cheap barbershops that have served nearby residents for decades.
Some buildings have European-style facades built in the early 20th century, when Western culture was spreadwidely in China.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
