Meet With Culture | Qianmen Street: Lifestyles and Culture in Local Snacks

Qianmen Street, as an important part of the Central Axis, had witnessed the prosperity of folk culture in Beijing. The street extends more than 800 meters from north to south. As early as the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), it was already one of the busiest commercial streets in the capital. As a verse describes, in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), “various goods including silk, jewels, and foods piled up like hills in the street, and restaurants and theaters were packed with customers until late into the night,” indicating its unmatched prosperity. 

Qianmen Street is not only a concentrated embodiment of Beijing's traditional folk culture, but also a popular destination for both Chinese and foreign tourists. Today's Qianmen Street has become a cultural avenue integrating tradition and modernity. 

Xianyukou, formerly called Xianyu Lane, originated in the Zhengtong reign of the Ming Dynasty, with a history of more than 570 years. Its name Xianyu (literally “Fresh Fish”) Lane derived from the fact that local fishermen sold the fish they caught in the Xieshui River to the southeast of Qianmen here, turning the lane into a fish market. With the passage of time, the place became a permanent market for fresh aquatic products. 

Nowadays, Xianyukou is no longer a fish market, but has become a representative commercial alley along Qianmen Street. It is also a popular destination to taste Beijing foods for residents and tourists alike. 

Compared to Xianyukou, Dashilan is more like a historical and cultural block. There are preserved a number of historical buildings including Quanyechang, Xiangyihao Silk Store, Ruifuxiang Silk Shop, Yanye Bank, and Bank of Communications. It is the birthplace of commerce in Beijing. 

From the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China period (1912-1949), Dashilan was Beijing's entertainment center. There were five theaters in the area. It is safe to say that Dashilan was the birthplace of China's film industry and a hub of traditional Beijing culture. 

Folk customs and royal culture have always been two paralleled trajectories of the inheritance and development of a nation's history and culture. Along the time-honored Central Axis of Beijing are people from everywhere who live and work here in contentment. With their passion and diligence, they make contributions to the development of Beijing while bringing their hometowns' food cultures to the city's alleys, quadrangle residences, and ordinary households, giving birth to the diversified but integrated cultural wonders of Beijing. 

(Executive Producer: Wang Xiaohui; Production Supervisor: Xue Lisheng; Line Producer: Yu Li; Chief Planner: Ding Suyun, Cao Chuanchuan; Planner: Li Ying; Translator: Liu Haile)