Sanfang Qixiang

Sanfang Qixiang, Nanhou Street, Langguan Alley, Yijin Lane, Wenru Lane, Gong Alley, Guanglu Lane, Ta Alley, Huang Alley, Anmin Alley, Jibi Alley, Mount Wushi, Mount Yu Do you know why Fuzhou’s old town rarely suffered from catastrophic fires? It wasn’t luck. It was the walls. Those towering white walls in Sanfang Qixiang—locals call them “Ma-tou walls” or “Wind-fire walls.” When you walk past them, they look like decoration. But in ancient times, they were Fuzhou’s firewall. ...

Sanfang Qixiang, Nanhou Street, Yijin Lane, Wenru Lane, Guanglu Lane, Langguan Alley, Ta Alley, Huang Alley, Anmin Alley, Gong Alley, Jibi Alley, Yangqiao Alley, Mount Wushi, Mount Yu Did you know there’s a street in Fuzhou that spans 1,700 years? Nanhou Street. Three lanes to the west: Yijin, Wenru, Guanglu. Seven alleys to the east: Langguan, Ta, Huang, Anmin, Gong, Jibi, Yangqiao. This is Sanfang Qixiang—40 hectares of land, 200+ Ming and Qing ancient buildings, 9 of which are National Major Cultural Relics Protection Units. ...

Geographical Connections Specific Place Names Mentioned: Nanhou Street, Yijin Lane, Wenru Lane, Guanglu Lane, Yangqiao Alley, Langguan Alley, Ta Alley, Huang Alley, Anmin Alley, Gong Alley, Jibi Alley. I. 38 Hectares of Density 282 AD. The Jin Dynasty. A prefect named Yan Gao raised a walled city on the Min River floodplain. No one called it “Sanfang Qixiang” yet. But the blueprint was already pressed into the mud. By 725 AD, the city had a name: Fuzhou. ...

A few days ago I was digging through the Fujian Provincial Annals, reading up on Fuzhou’s urban history, and I got pulled in. You’ve gotta hand it to Fuzhou—it’s a pretty special place. Over 2,200 years of history, squeezed into a valley surrounded by three hills. Wushan, Yushan, Pingshan, all crammed together in the city proper. Two ancient pagodas—the White Pagoda and the Black Pagoda—stand there like they’ve been keeping watch for centuries. When you walk through the old quarters, you look up and there’s the mountain, and on the mountain, there’s the pagoda. You don’t see that in many Chinese cities. ...