—History and Culture of Chopsticks Street—
At present, Southwest Street is making every effort to promote the renovation and upgrading project of Chopsticks Street, and has launched a collection of old objects and stories aimed at reflecting the development and changes of Chopsticks Street→ collecting "old objects"! Look for the stories of those years on Chopsticks Street
Chopsticks Street is the starting point of the development of the central urban area of Sanshui, and it is also a corner of the city's memories. With the advancement of the solicitation activities, more and more old objects and old stories carrying years and memories have surfaced, they have their own traffic, they are waiting to be revealed, and they can listen to the footsteps of history; Visiting the context - you can trace the footsteps of the sages; Every corner of this place is full of the value of cultural inheritance and the charm of fireworks in the world.
This is an invitation exclusive to Chopsticks Street in the southwest of Sanshui:
If you want to see the lights of a small riverside town at dusk, you have to go to the Beijiang Embankment. If you want to know the intimacy and reverence of southerners for water, please walk through Chopsticks Street and walk to the Bac River Embankment.
You will open up a sense of relaxation, poetry and romance at your fingertips.
Sunset and sunset on the Beijiang embankment. Photo by Wang Shu, reporter of Foshan News and Media Center
Every inch is the history of water control
The embankment of the Beijiang River is very long, starting from Shijiao in Qingyuan in the north and reaching Shishan in the South China Sea in the south, most of which is in Sanshui. The Beijiang Embankment referred to by the old neighbors of Chopsticks Street refers to the section parallel to Chopsticks Street.
This section of the embankment, which is no more than 2 kilometers long, embodies the vicissitudes and fireworks of a city.
The Beijiang Embankment adjacent to Chopsticks Street. Photo by Lai Jirun, a reporter from Foshan News and Media Center
Looking back on history, the predecessor of the Beijiang Embankment was a large and small embankment of different lengths and heights. For example, the embankment section below the reed bud sluice in Sanshui was called Rongsaiwei in ancient times; The Kuigang Wai of the estuary section (including the county front of the old Sanshui County) and the upper section of the southwest sluice were called Daliangwei in ancient times; The embankment section of Sanshui County below the southwest sluice was called Shatouwei in ancient times.
By October 1954, under the dispatch of the provincial party committee at that time, Guangdong mobilized the strength of the whole province to build the Beijiang embankment in the form of large-scale training and repair on the basis of the existing embankment. According to the "Chronicles of the Beijiang Embankment", Sanshui organized 22,400 migrant workers, Heshan sent 2,500 people, Gaoming sent 2,500 people, Panyu sent 3,000 people, and Huadu and Gaoyao sent 5,000 people each. More than 40,000 people camped on the spot, fighting every day, carrying mud and ramming on their shoulders, and the sound of trumpets was endless.
Data map of the Beijiang embankment when it was heightened and thickened. Courtesy of Xixuan
During this period, a new embankment of 1.67 kilometers was built from Southwest Banggangtou to Southwest Yongkou, and a flow restriction dam was built at Southwest Yongkou. In history, many "collapsed foundation ponds" such as Datubu Pond and Longchuan Pond caused by the bursting of the embankment have also been eliminated.
On March 20 of the following year, the entire embankment of the Beijiang embankment was completed, and the then vice governor Gu Dacun wrote a poem: Panpan stands at the head of the river, protects the countryside and protects Guangzhou. Water conservancy pioneers advocate the whole province, and the wave god is raging since now it is over. The embankment wall of one million migrant workers was completed, and the tiger was left with three thousand spirits. It is necessary to implement the heavy management and prevention, and finally fundamentally control the torrent.
Since then, the Beijiang Embankment has undertaken the historical mission of defending Guangzhou-Foshan and even the Pearl River Delta region. Later, the Beijiang embankment underwent four large-scale repairs and reinforcements, and finally reached the flood control standard of once in a century.
Everywhere you look, it's full of fireworks
While shouldering the mission of defending the homeland, the Beijiang embankment has also achieved a sense of relaxation for Sanshui people. Here you can feel the precipitation of the years, trace the wind and smoke of history, and feel the humanistic customs.
The Bac Giang embankment makes the city dependent on and close to the water. Photo by Wang Shu, reporter of Foshan News and Media Center
Every year in March, Foshan holds a 50-kilometer hike. This section of the embankment is always the most poetic distance. At one end of it, there are thousands of lights and wisps of cooking smoke in the old city; On the other hand, there is the rolling east of the Beijiang River, which is like a carp, and has witnessed the vigorous development of the Sanshui water economy.
Next to the embankment, the riverside warehouse retains the Soviet-style granary architectural style of the last century, which is the historical witness of Sanshui as one of the four major grain delivery counties in Guangdong in the past. Today, it is a night-time economic gathering place integrating creative markets, food, and trendy drinks.
Not far from Yunxiu Mountain, is the birthplace of Foshan's "La Liga", in July this year, the 18th Foshan "La Liga" will come as scheduled, and the participating teams will be expanded to 32 Bay Area powerhouses, as if there is a "Bay Area Small World Cup" style. The Guizhou Village Super Team and the Hong Kong Star Football Team may make their debuts, and the Foshan "La Liga" theme night, which includes Lingnan culture and manufacturing elements, is also brewing surprises.
The final of the 17th Foshan "La Liga" in 2023. Courtesy of Sanshui District Archives
During this year's Spring Festival, the champion of the Chinese New Year stall "Hot and Hot" brought sky-high traffic to the Beijiang Embankment. Le Ying played by Jia Ling and boxing coach Hao Kun played by Lei Jiayin sat on the Beijiang embankment to catch up. In Jia Ling's words, I especially hope to use the Beijiang Embankment to reflect the open state of mind of the protagonist after "Nirvana Rebirth". And when tourists come here, will they feel the power of loving themselves, being brave and persevering for their dreams in the movie?
Citizens who participated in Foshan's 50-kilometer hike to the Sanshui Line checked in at the filming location of "Hot and Hot". Photo by Yang Liyun, a reporter from Foshan News and Media Center
The Beijiang Embankment is also engraved with the commercial genes of Sanshui born and proud of water. Under the Beijiang embankment, there were once three wharves: Wumiaokou, Yixi, and Hongwei. Nowadays, these three wharves have withdrawn from the historical stage, but in the past, next to the Wumiaokou ferry, there is still the Guandi Temple (also known as the Wu Temple) built in the thirteenth year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty (1808). In addition to offering incense and praying for good believers, the temple was also a cultural and entertainment place and a prosperous commercial place at that time, and it is said that the funds for the construction of the temple were raised by merchants from all walks of life in the southwest. In the early 20th century, there were often people in Wumiaokou who set up a tent to sing big operas, and the three layers in front of the stage and the outer three layers were full of audiences.
The sunset is gilded, and the Beijiang embankment is the poetry and distance of the Sanshui people. Photo by Wang Shu, reporter of Foshan News and Media Center
Time came to the third decade of the 21st century, the Beijiang embankment, full of cafes, simple restaurants, although the former pig red porridge, boat porridge, South milk meat no longer sell well, say the Three Kingdoms, comment on the water margin, talk about the journey to the west no longer reproduce, but the bustling crowd is still the tide here generally rises and falls, year after year to moisten this riverside city.
Source: Foshan News Media Center (Reporter Yang Liyun, Lai Jirun, Correspondent Sanxuan, Xixuan) Editor: Foshan News Network Mai Yanwen Reviewer: Song Yang, Zhu Jingyi, Min Xin, Zhu Guanghui