Yandaixiejie (Tobacco Pipe Lane), which is located at Houhai area in Xicheng and is one of Beijing's most famous tourist destinations, was declared China's Historic Street during a ceremony on Wednesday.
The 232-meter twisting street is one of Beijing's oldest and the most famous hutongs.
It can be date back to the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) which is named as Dayuting East Street at that time. It changed to be Yandaixiejie later. The story is people who are living in the north of the city have the hobby of tobacco and water pipe. Some people in the street are very smart in doing business so they open the shop of China tobacco pipe (Yandai). Gradually the street changed the name as Yandaixiejie. In addition to the story, the street itself looks like a Yandai.
It was originally built near a wharf and became a prosperous commercial center because of its location and the busy shipping business.
Nowadays, it has developed into a business street for antiques, artware and so on. The architecture is elegant full of Beijing features.
The street was renovated in line with its original appearance in 2000 and is now well known among tourists for its twisting road and its 60 souvenir shops and bars.
Though the old street has been replaced by the new one, the Ming and Qing Dynasty styles and many old shops are remained, especially the tobacco shops and antique shops.
Related Yandaixiejie Hutong Tour :
Beijing Hutong Tours
Editor: Susan
Date: Nov 12, 2010