The answers below are very detailed for those who take the bus. Let me answer the fun part of your question. The following is the travel website’s guide to traveling to Wuma Street. Hope this helps: Wuma Street is one of the oldest streets in Wenzhou Old City and a famous commercial street. It starts from Jiefang Street and Gongyuan Road in the east and ends at Chan Street and Fuqian Street in the west. It is 400 meters long and 12 meters wide. According to the Tang Dynasty's "Ancient and Modern Customs": "Wang Yishao (Wang Xi's nickname is Yishao) went out to guard Yongjia. He had five horses in the courtyard and a gold saddle in the countryside, so there was a five-horse square in Yongjia." In the second year of Shaosheng in the Song Dynasty (1095), Yang Pan, the magistrate of Wenzhou, renamed Wenzhou 36 squares, and Wumafang was listed as one of them. Yang Pan's "Hundred Odes of Five Horses Fang Poems" says, "It is said that there were five horses, and there was a moment of hesitation. People love to make you good, and exchanging geese is not a common book." In the Qing Dynasty, the square was converted into a street, and there were 14 lanes on both sides of the street. lane. In 1934, the shophouses were demolished, widened from 6 meters to 12 meters, and renamed Zhongshan Road. In the old days, merchants gathered here, including silk and cloth shops, department stores, copper and tin utensil shops, Chinese and Western pharmacies, and banks. ? After liberation, the name of Wuma Street was restored, and it was changed to asphalt pavement in 1974. In April 1984, Wuma Street was designated as a pedestrian street and became Wenzhou's iconic shopping pedestrian street. Wuma Street integrates shopping, commerce, culture, entertainment and leisure. In March 1999, it was named by the relevant national departments as a demonstration street of "No Counterfeit Products in Hundreds of Cities and Thousands of Stores in the Nation". In 2000, the Wuma Street renovation project was included in the "Wenzhou Cultural Upgrade Plan" by the municipal government, and the renovation was completed that year. A sculpture of "Five Horses Galloping" was also installed at the west entrance of Wuma Street. ? Wuma Street is the area with the strongest commercial culture in the old city of Wenzhou. The buildings on both sides basically maintain the original Western style. There are three century-old stores, Wuweihe, Jinsanyi, and Laoxiangshan, department stores, and Wenzhou restaurants. ? Most of these old stores were founded during the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, and many stores have a history of more than a hundred years. ?
A blend of sweet, sour, bitter and spicy
The "Wuweihe" standing at the entrance of Wuma Street is the oldest non-staple food store in our city. It was built in the sixth year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1880). It was founded by Ningbo businessman Yang Zhengyu, fellow countryman Feng Bozhen and other ten Ningbo businessmen. It was originally a preserve shop, located in the west section of Mantou Lane, now No. 78 Gulou Street. There are couplets on both sides of the store, "Preserved seafood, various medicinal wines, canned fruits, tea and food from the north and south". The store number of "Wuweihe" is written horizontally on the lintel, and also on one side. The bluestone board is engraved with the three characters "Wuweihe" in Mei Tiaoding's original script. Feng Bozhen had a relationship with Mei Diaoding, a famous calligrapher in the late Qing Dynasty, so he asked Mei to inscribe the name of the store on the signboard. After repeated deliberation, Mr. Mei Tiaoding thought it would be better to add the word "harmony" after the original name of the store "五丝", which means the harmony of the five flavors of sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty, so he wrote the three vigorous words "五丝和" Powerful characters.
In the 29th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1903), Yang Zhiqin, son of Yang Zhengyu, inherited his father's business and opened an additional branch at Wumajiekou (the current location of Wuweihe store), which was called Wuweihe's new name. Wuweihe developed rapidly during the period of Yang Zhiqin's management, especially Oumangan, which was sold well in the north of Beijing and Tianjin and made huge profits. In the 21st year of the Republic of China (1932), Lin Minqing, a shareholder from Wenzhou, was appointed as the manager of the new store. Due to his good management, Wuweihe's business continued to expand. The old store closed in 1940, and the new one has been unique ever since. When the public-private partnership was implemented in 1956, nearby Nanhuo stores such as Tongrenhe, Yuanchang, and Fuxu were merged in, and the stores were rebuilt and expanded in appearance and scale. In 1966, it was converted into a state-owned enterprise and renamed the local state-owned Xinfeng Food Store. In 1979, the original store name was restored.
Wuweihe attaches great importance to its business characteristics. In addition to supplying goods from the north and south, it also sells pickled vegetables, preserved vegetables, dried vegetables, seafood, and fresh fruits. It also runs its own workshops and hires famous experts to make preserves, pickled preserved goods, pastries, roasted seeds and nuts, etc. The food is famous for its exquisite selection of ingredients, fine processing, genuine products and unique flavor, especially for its sashimi, shrimp paste, drunken crab, snails, sausages, soy sauce duck, five-flavor cake, hawthorn cake and Wujiapi medicinal wine. for features. The most well-known is the delicious fish (white sole). The production process has a history of more than 80 years. It has five unique characteristics: fresh color, uniform strips, no mushy, delicious taste, and shelf-stable. In addition to supplying the local market, Longquan celadon jars were also used for fine decoration and were exported to Hong Kong.
Ma Xingye, a famous newspaperman living in Taiwan, received a can of five-flavored and delicious fish raw materials from his fellow villagers. He was so happy that he once wrote a poem: "I wish you the long flavor of the seaweed and perch, and the fragrance of Yanshan and Ouhai. I think about it in front of my eyes." Kissing tears, I can’t bear to try Yusheng.” The little Yusheng evoked infinite nostalgia in the wanderer.
“Jin Sanyi’s Silks and Satins”
The Jin Sanyi Clothing Mall in the middle of Wuma Street was originally the Jin Sanyi Silk and Cloth Store, which was built in the ninth year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty (1859) ), a joint venture between three brothers Jin Xubao from Wuxing County, Huzhou opened a Suhu silk and satin shop under the Drum Tower. It was first named Jin Tongyi and later renamed Jinsanyi, which means that all three Jin brothers benefited. It mainly deals in high-end worsted woolen woolen, silk and pure cotton fabrics. A few years later, it moved to its current location on Wuma Street, expanded its store, and expanded its purchase channels to Shanghai and other places.
In the old days, the silk shop had four doors, with two doors in the middle for entry and exit. A gold-lettered signboard of "Jin Sanyi" hung on the banner on the door, and a vertical sign beside the door read "Jin Sanyi". Sanyi Silk and Satin Bureau". The Jin brothers' hometown of Huzhou is rich in high-quality silks, satins and Huzhou crepe, so they took turns traveling between Huzhou and Wenzhou to purchase and sell goods. Due to nostalgia, the purchasing price of silk, satin and lake crepe in their shop is lower than others. When the goods arrive in Wenzhou, because they are of good quality and cheap, they can be sold as soon as they arrive, and both parties benefit, so the income is huge. After several generations of hard work, by the time of the Republic of China, it had become a well-known silk manufacturer and was known as the "golden sign" store. Huzhou silk is famous throughout the country. At that time, if you wanted to buy authentic silk and satin in Wenzhou, it had to be Jin Sanyi.
The service attitude of the clerks in Jin Sanyi store is also well-known. As long as you can get into the store, you will definitely not go back empty-handed. What old Wenzhou people call "Jin Sanyi's golden signature" is, in modern terms, the "integrity" brand. In the past, there was a saying in Wenzhou called "Jin Sanyi's silk and satin", which describes things that are perfect and satisfying. At that time, there was a popular saying in Wenzhou: "Dong Guifang (hat) on the head, Yu Shunchang (shoes) on the feet, wearing Jin Sanyi silk cloth shop." This shows Jin Sanyi's reputation.
It integrates department stores, theaters and restaurants
The current No. 13 Wuma Street is the former site of Yunbo Shopping Mall. It was founded in 1927 by Xu Shuyu (1880-1967), a famous industrialist in Wenzhou. Xu Shuyu, named Yunzhang, was born in Ruian. In the 18th year of Guangxu's reign (1892), he went to Wenzhou Yida Cloth Shop as an apprentice. In the 27th year (1898), he rented a house in Caoxian Lane and opened "Xu Yunzhang Silk Cloth Shop" as his sole proprietorship. ". After saving a little, he bought more than ten low houses in the east section of Wuma Street in 1917. They were modeled after silk shops on Nanjing Road in Shanghai and converted into two adjacent three-story brick and wood storefronts. The east end was "Yunzhang Foreign Goods Store" ", the west head is "Yunzhang Silk and Satin Bureau". The two stores are connected, and the three characters "Xu Yunzhang" are written on the lintel. It looks like a big Shanghai business house, and it once caused a sensation. After painstaking efforts, I accumulated considerable funds, so I bought an old house near the old Wang Family Ancestral Hall. I visited the architectural styles of major shopping malls in Shanghai with an architect. After recovering, I built a four-story reinforced concrete building and opened a shopping mall. The shopping mall has a construction area of ??3,700 square meters, with three and four floors as the main body and five floors in some parts. The floor plan makes full use of the street surface, and the facade treatment uses large and small concave and convex surfaces. The lighting effect is good. At the time, it was the best building in Wenzhou in recent times. In 1925, it was named "Bo Hou Department Store".
In 1933, Mr. Xu Shuyu bought more than 30 old houses behind the "Yunzhang" and "Boou" stores, demolished and rebuilt them, and at the same time replaced the original brick and wood structure buildings with reinforced concrete buildings. The buildings were connected into one, and some floors were raised to five floors. They were paved with water and renovated, forming a complex of today's scale buildings. Xu Shuyu used the third and fourth floors as a theater and named it "Central Grand Theatre", which later became the Popular Cinema. There are nearly a thousand seats, divided into four categories: special, main hall, box and flower floor. The stage is semicircular and has relatively advanced lighting equipment. Famous actors from other places in Vancouver perform here. Most of the dramas and propaganda programs during the Anti-Japanese War were performed here. At that time, it was the theater with the best structure and equipment in Wenzhou.
Nine buildings on the second and third floors are rented to Chen Junmin, a returned overseas Chinese from Qingtian, to open a restaurant. Chen is good at cooking, and his wife is Italian and can cook Western dishes, so they named the store "Italy". Chinese food is served on the second floor, and Western food and pastries are served on the third floor. The famous chef Xu Yanchi was hired to serve. It was the No. 1 restaurant in southern Zhejiang at that time.
After the outbreak of World War II, Chen and his wife left Wen and went abroad. They transferred the store to Xu Yanchi and three others, and renamed it "Hua Dali". They renovated the restaurant and made it luxurious. Huadali specializes in dine-in business. Because of its skillful management and distinctive characteristics, it became famous for a while. Every banquet held by the officials, gentry and wealthy people would be held in Huadali Restaurant. There is a saying in old Wenzhou: "If you are thick-skinned, Hua Dali will be the best." Although it is a joke, you can imagine that Hua Dali was a household name in Wenzhou at that time. After liberation, Huali Restaurant moved to Sigu Bridge and then to Daoqian Bridge. The rest of the restaurant was turned into a department store, called "Yunbo Shopping Mall", which is the predecessor of Wenzhou 100.
Speaking of the development of Wuma Street in modern times, Wu Baiheng, a famous patriotic industrialist in Wenzhou, also made his fortune starting from Wuma Street. Wu Baiheng (1894-1973) opened "Baiheng Pharmacy" on Wuma Street in 1921, and made his own Feilin, Mother of Blood, Mad Tongue, Qianjindan, etc. After accumulating a certain amount of savings, he founded the "Baihao Condensed Milk Factory" behind the pharmacy store in 1926, with the registered trademark "Qindiao". Later, he founded Xishan Paper Mill, Xishan Kiln Factory, Far East Egg Powder Factory and Brewing Factory, Milk Candy Factory, etc. His mansion is also located on Wuma Street.
In addition to the shops mentioned above, Wuma Street in the old days also had large shops such as Laoxiangshan, Qianningzhai, Yuanchang, and Baoda, as well as large shops such as Xu Dechang, Zhengfenghe, and Tonghe. .
Today’s Wuma Street, some of the old stores that continue to this day are still very popular, and there are many emerging light brands in Wenzhou such as Kangnai, Aokang, and Gilda leather shoes; Baoxianniao, Zhuangji Clothing; Dahu Lighters, etc. Specialty store for industrial products. With adjacent shops, a wide range of merchandise, bustling commerce and everlasting charm, Wuma Street is still the busiest commercial street in Wenzhou.