The prosperity of Xima Street today
A few days ago, a local media reported on Xima Street in Jiang'an District, saying that it "taxes 1 billion yuan per square kilometer", which is commendable. Especially considering that in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, this place was still a sparsely populated slum in Hankou, full of lakes and swamps. Compared with today's achievements, it is even more extraordinary.
There are many historical anecdotes to be said in the West Malaysia Street area, such as the early industry during the Republic of China, the diversified religious and cultural legacy, the changes in local lakes and swamps, etc. It is difficult to list them all in a short article, so I can only mention them. Let’s pick them first. Let’s talk about some superficial things.
Why is Xima Road so short?
The name of the administrative division of Xima Street is undoubtedly derived from the "Xima Road" located in the center of this place. This road has a long history, nearly a century old. However, with the changes in the city over the past few decades, only a short section of Xima Road - starting from Jiefang Avenue in the southeast and ending at Miaoli Road Overpass in the north - is gradually being submerged among the emerging high-rise buildings. It is probably difficult to find a street like this in the entire Wuhan city, and the origin of its name is so inconspicuous.
Xima Road in history was much longer than it is now.
Xima Road was built around 1924. When this road was first built, its function was very clear: it was used to connect the urban area of Hankou, Hankou, and the newly built "Wanguo Racecourse" for Chinese merchants. At that time, the northwest end of the urban area of Hankou basically referred to the built-up area on the northwest side of the Beijing-Hankou Railway, the so-called "outside the railway" area; and the location of Wanguo Racecourse was located at today's Racecourse Corner.
Therefore, the starting point of the southern end of Xima Road at that time was approximately at the intersection of today's Huangshi Road (or Quiet Back Street) and Jinghan Avenue, while the starting point of the northern end was today's Racecourse Kok. The original name of this road was "The Road of All Nations", which clearly explained its function. At that time, the areas passing between the city and the racecourse were either factory areas or sparsely populated lakes and swamps, and were relatively desolate along the way. From the old map, it can be seen that part of the road passes between two lakes.
West Road has experienced several name changes in history. One was in the 1930s, when it was renamed "West Road" from "Wanguo Road". It is said that it was because of its location in the British and German baseball stadiums (i.e. today's Stadium Street area) ) to the west. However, in the 1930s, the industry here was also quite prosperous, and West Road was also located to the west of a series of factories. Where the word "西" comes from may still need to be verified. In 1967, this place was renamed "Patriotic Road" and its original name was restored in 1972.
In addition to Xima Road itself, there are several streets around it. Historically, they have been named "Zhongzheng 1st Road", "Zhongzheng 2nd Road", "Zhongzheng Back Road", "Zhongzheng Xiaolu", etc. This is naturally because local officials touted Chiang Kai-shek. President's actions. After Wuhan was liberated in 1949, these places were renamed "Xima 1st Road", "Xima 2nd Road", "Xima Back Road", and "Xima Small Road". Xima Road was transformed from a single road into a street. General outline of naming. To this day, this place is called "Xima Street" precisely because of this historical origin.
After the founding of New China, the originally desolate areas such as Beihu, Tangjiadun, and Huaqiao gradually developed. In 1983, the construction highway started. Since then, the end of the west road extending northward has been bounded by Jianshe Avenue. The original part to the north of Jianshe Avenue has another name and no longer leads to Racecourse Point by a single pole.
West Malaysia Street in the 1980s. On June 25, 1997, to commemorate the return of Hong Kong, a "Hong Kong Road" was named with the approval of the Wuhan Municipal People's Government. Hong Kong Road merged the original section of West Road from the Miaoli Road overpass to Jianshe Avenue. As a result, only the short section of West Road that we see today is left. If you don’t understand its historical changes, you will inevitably wonder why such a small road was used to name the entire street.
The disappearing “duck egg shell”
Although West Road has been shortened repeatedly, it still remains. Some natural landmarks here have been completely lost in history, such as the lake "Duck Egg Shell".On the map of the 1930s, you can still clearly see that this was a fairly small body of water. Now this area has been completely filled in and turned into a residential area, ranging from today's Xinsan Lane to Yadanjiao.
A map from the 1930s, with the "Duck Eggshell" lake in the red box.
Since the end of the 19th century, "egg factories" in Hankou have been very prosperous. The most representative one is the famous giant enterprise "Hutchison Egg Factory". Since the opening of the Beijing-Hankow Railway in the early 20th century, some egg factories have appeared east of West Road today, such as the Lita Egg Factory of Chinese merchants, the Lihe Egg Factory of German merchants, the Jiali Egg Factory, etc. Very close. These companies produce egg powder, and the waste eggshells left behind are dumped into this lake nearby, which is why the lake is named "Duck Eggshells".
After decades of garbage dumping, by the 1930s, although Eggshell had not filled the lake, the local water quality had become seriously polluted. An old man recalled that from the 1930s to the 1940s, the lake had become black and smelly, with all kinds of foreign objects floating around all year round - in short, it was no longer suitable for daily use.
In the 1950s, with the advancement of a series of infrastructure projects after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the "Duck Egg Shell" Lake was basically filled in, and the community of "New Third Alley" was established on the original location of the lake. In the original waters of the lake, only a waterway leading to the Huangxiao River in the northernmost "Yadanjiao" remained. It was precisely because of the existence of this waterway that the name "Yadanjiao" was preserved. To this day, some people think that Yadanjiao is the location of the "Duck Egg Shell" Lake in history, but this is not the case.
The place name of Yadanjiao has certainly gone through some changes. Initially, the name of this place was consistent with the name of the lake, so it was called "Duck Egg Shell". In the 1930s, the government thought it was indecent and changed its name to "Adam's Corner", citing an allusion from the Bible. By the way, there were several churches here in history, but unfortunately they have not been preserved. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, "Adam's Corner" was changed to "Yadan Corner", and then changed again. It was not until 1972 that the original name of the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China was restored together with West Road.
Beside Yadanjiao, there is also a "Model Village". The name sounds quite reminiscent of the 1950s, but the historical truth is very different from our general stereotypes: the name "Model Village" existed before the founding of New China and was an important part of the exploration of social governance at that time. , the traces left over from the movement to experiment with “model villages” for workers to live in. This is a long story, so I might as well discuss it alone if I have the chance.
