Post on 22-Mar-2016
description
DECORATIONSanxia Old Street remains a corridor of red-bricked Baroque style,
three-arched rooftops. A program to renovate the old street’shouses winning the 2006 National Oustanding Construction
and National Environmental Culture Award.
INSCRIPTIONThe inscriptions on the
old street's houses indicates individual household's
last names, business types,
and store names.
The images and f ig ures decorating
the walls have special meaning s.For example, a vase represents peace.
BaGua (a Chinese Taoist sy mbol) is meant to ward of f evil.
The main material for the building facades along old street houses was brick, while interior walls were made with mud.
CARVINGS
BAROQUEBecause the merchants who lived along the Street
in those days were all well-to-do folks, the architectural style and the building
materials used were the cream of the crop; many materials were imported, and some of the
residents employed architects from as far as England.The protruding sections on the roof of the
buildings and the carved patterns under the windowsills on the second floor of the
buildings enhance the beauty of these constructions.
Sanxia Old Street
The old street is located on the west side of Zushi temple and 200 meters in length.
The stores on its sides preserve the ancienttradition of having hall or family names on their
signboards, which is different from theconventional signboards we see today.
Through the Baroque and Arcade styles of architecture,a picture can be conjured up
of how the street used to be, with its unique buildings displaying an elegant scene and
exuding a unique aura of beauty.