Is there a stone road in the old city of Quanzhou?

Hello, there is a stone road in the old city of Quanzhou.

From the Song and Yuan Dynasties to the beginning of the 20th century, it was basically a cross-shaped street and dozens of criss-crossing alleys formed by Dongjie and Zhongshan Road. Yang Qingjiang, deputy director of Quanzhou Library Office, said that according to the records of Jinjiang County Records, Quanzhou Prefecture Records and other related documents, Quanzhou City formed a neighborhood-oriented urban structure shortly after the completion of the Tang and Five Dynasties for the convenience of management. Today, East Street, West Street and South Street (now Zhongshan Road) were the main roads of the ancient city at that time. After the Song Dynasty, open management was implemented, and the square wall was demolished, forming a small street where the old square wall was located. The road traffic pattern formed at that time continued until the beginning of the 20th century, with no major changes.

Yang Qingjiang said that according to Qing Qianlong's "Quanzhou Fuzhi Li Du Street Shili", there were 13 streets and 45 alleys in Quanzhou at that time. However, because the early means of transportation were mainly sedan chairs, carriages and animal power, the roads were relatively narrow. In ancient times, except the main roads and some alleys were stone roads, most of them were dirt roads.

The change of Quanzhou urban road network began in the early 1920s. From the "Quanzhou Map" mapped by Quanzhou Works Bureau 1922, Zhongshan Road in Quanzhou was not found. At that time, the roads from the west side of Tianhou Palace to the north of Liaozi Street were Yiquan Street, Paipu Street, Nanyue Street and Tingqian Street, connecting the south street of the old city and directly reaching Weiyuan Building, which was regarded as the "north-south connection" of Quanzhou.

The streets in the old city of Quanzhou are "narrow and insufficient", and the width is no more than feet. They are made of irregular stone slabs. Yang Qingjiang said that from an old photo of West Street at that time, almost all the awnings set up in front of merchants on both sides were connected together, showing that the road was narrow at that time.