Continue the Millennium Context and Enjoy the Fruits of Protection —— Fuzhou Guards the 3 Lanes and 7 Alleys with a Heart of Cherish and Respect

News replay 

On March 24, 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping came to 3 Lanes and 7 Alleys to listen to the protection and restoration report of Fuzhou Ancient House and 3 Lanes and 7 Alleys, walk around Nanhou Street and Langguan Lane, visit Yan Fu's former residence, and wave greetings to tourists and citizens frequently. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that protecting traditional blocks, ancient buildings and cultural relics is to preserve the history and context of the city. Treat ancient buildings, old houses and old blocks with a heart of cherish and respect.

3 Lanes and 7 Alleys reporter

Photographed by Ye Yibin

Over the past year, the municipal Party committee and the municipal government have kept in mind the entrustment, continuously strengthened the protection of the 3 Lanes and 7 Alleys, took the opportunity of hosting the 44th World Heritage Conference, guarded the 3 Lanes and 7 Alleys with a heart of cherish and respect, and continued the Millennium context, so that cultural heritage can bloom with new brilliance and people can enjoy the fruits of cultural heritage protection.

The "old" tour guide has a new feeling.

On March 24, 2021, Huang Yulin, one of the top ten "most beautiful tour guides" in China, took a group of tourists to visit 3 Lanes and 7 Alleys, which coincided with General Secretary Xi Jinping's investigation there, surprising him and the tourists.

"Without General Secretary Xi Jinping's personal investigation and protection, there would be no 3 Lanes and 7 Alleys today." Huang, who has passed his 60s, said that over the past year, he took a group of foreign tourists to visit 3 Lanes and 7 Alleys, and every time he introduced the “love” between General Secretary Xi Jinping and 3 Lanes and 7 Alleys.

When leading citizens and tourists to visit Fuzhou, Huang deeply felt Fuzhou's achievements in cultural heritage protection and urban quality improvement —— Yeshan Spring and Autumn Park opened its west, east and south entrances, promoted the north entrance, combed the park and mountain greening landscape, dredged the water body of Ouye pool, repaired Jianguang Pavilion, Xiyu Pavilion, Quanshan Cliff Inscription and Renshou Hall, set up statues and relief walls of Wuzhu and Ouyezi, and excavated and displayed the Tang Dynasty polo field ruins. The second phase of Wushan Historical Scenic Area, which opened at the beginning of this year, has brought many cliff inscriptions back to light...

Over the past year, Huang has served as a tour guide for many experts and scholars who came to Fuzhou. After listening to Huang’s commentary, Dai Jianye, a doctoral tutor in the School of Liberal Arts of Huazhong Normal University, said happily, "Thanks to Huang's wonderful explanation, Fuzhou left a beautiful and deep impression on me. It's really a blessed state with outstanding people!"

"New Fuzhou People" Protect Mindu Culture

He Wei, from Ma'anshan, Anhui Province, was also the "lucky person" who met General Secretary Xi Jinping in 3 Lanes and 7 Alleys last year. As a new Fuzhou native, he deeply felt that the protection of cultural heritage by the municipal Party committee and the municipal government continued to increase. "Gao Shiqi's former residence and Li Shijia's former residence in the characteristic historical and cultural block of Aofeng Lane have been activated and utilized after being protected and restored. People can enjoy the intangible cultural heritage public welfare meals such as Zen songs, Fujian opera and Chi songs in the ancient houses in a normal way, and their sense of gain and happiness are increasing steadily." Speaking of the "welfare" brought to people by Fuzhou in the protection of cultural heritage in the past year, He Wei frequently praised it.

This year, Gulou District set up the first volunteer team of folk cultural relics protection in Fuzhou. He Wei actively joined in and became a volunteer of cultural relics protection. "While enjoying the achievements of Fuzhou cultural heritage protection, I also want to help Fuzhou cultural heritage protection and utilization".

Fujian opera performance on waterside pavilion stage

Photographed by reporter Chi Yuan

Multiple measures to improve the quality of 3 Lanes and 7 Alleys

"We keep in mind the entrustment of General Secretary Xi Jinping, take multiple measures and make every effort to improve the overall quality of 3 Lanes and 7 Alleys block." Lin Sheng, general manager of Fuzhou Famous City Protection and Development Co., Ltd. said.

The sound and light dance, the time and space crisscross, and the 3 Lanes and 7 Alleys under the night becomes the dream stage-the light and shadow are swaying, lighting up the Millennium old street; In the dance rhyme, reappear the lanes of Ming and Qing dynasties; At the corner of the lane, rickshaw pullers ring the bell; In the lane, the wontons are fragrant... On the evening of July 15 last year, as a supporting activity of the 44th World Heritage Conference, the immersive performance "Seeking Dream in Lanes" was staged in the 3 Lanes and 7 Alleys. The performance was like a time machine, opening the "past lives" of lanes, and showing the image of Fuzhou to the world, telling about the culture of Fujian and its capital with the three key words of "humanity", "digit" and "green". "The performance vividly and intuitively appreciated the beauty of Fuzhou in the Millennium!" Chinese and foreign guests praised a lot.

"Seeking Dream in Lanes" is one of the initiatives of Fuzhou Famous City Company to innovate and publicize lanes and displays the profound historical and cultural heritage of Fuzhou. The company also launched seven special lines of "Follow the General Secretary's footsteps in the lanes" online and offline, sorting out and displaying the forward-looking thoughts and practical achievements of General Secretary Xi Jinping in promoting cultural heritage protection; Fully tap the red resources such as the former site of Fuzhou Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China in lanes, and create the excellent course of Party history study and education of "Spring in Lanes, Red Flag in Wind"; Accelerate the promotion and construction of 30 cultural exhibition halls, including Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era study and education practice base with Chinese characteristics (Xucuo Lane), Shen Baozhen Memorial Hall and Yan Fu's former residence.

As the first smart block built by our city, the sorting and excavation of 159 ancient buildings' ownership, cultural and historical data and other information has been completed, and a digital asset management mechanism has been built to empower Fuzhou ancient buildings with science and technology. The neighborhood has also continuously optimized and adjusted the layout of commercial and cultural formats, actively introduced high-quality and mature leisure and cultural brands, gradually increased the proportion of intangible cultural heritage formats, and vigorously promoted the integration and development of excellent traditional culture, business and tourism.

Appreciating Fujian Opera, listening to storytelling and Chi songs... Fuzhou Opera performance with a strong smell of "shrimp oil" is a cultural feast that people cannot miss when they come to 3 Lanes and 7 Alleys on holidays. Every traditional festival, 3 Lanes and 7 Alleys always carries out a series of colorful folk exhibitions and interactive experiences. In 2021, there were more than 1,500 folk exhibitions, cultural performances and other activities, and a total of 14.9 million tourists were received throughout the year.

Extended report

Digital empowerment protection of ancient houses

On March 12, at the launching ceremony of Fujian Opera Digital Museum held in Shangxiahang Fujian Opera Grand View Garden, Chen Naichun, Zhou Hong, Chen Hongxiang, Chen Qiong and Wu Zewen, the winners of Plum Blossom Award, the highest prize in Chinese drama performance, brought us wonderful performance of the classic Fujian operas, such as “Sacrifice”, “Double Butterfly Fan” and “Lin Zexu's Return”, so that the audience can experience the static beauty and tradition of ancient buildings. Let people enjoy themselves.

The Grand View Garden of Fujian Opera was originally the ancestral hall of the He family of Shangxiahang merchants. It has a history of nearly one hundred years and has been activated and utilized after being protected and restored. Since the opening of the park in June last year, the Grand View Garden of Fujian Opera has carried out diversified online and offline activities by observing and experiencing two major contents: public welfare teahouse and live Fujian Opera performances, so that the national-level intangible cultural heritage, Fujian Opera can shine in a new era and help build an international brand of Fujian culture.

Fujian Grand View Garden is a microcosm of the protection and utilization of ancient houses in Fuzhou. Over the past year, Fuzhou has inherited and carried forward the important ideas and practices of General Secretary Xi Jinping on the protection of cultural heritage, brought into play the advantages of digital Fuzhou, and used digital means to empower the protection of ancient buildings with science and technology.

Citizens scan code to learn about Gao Shiqi's former residence (file picture)

Photographed by reporter Chi Yuan

At the end of March last year, "Fuzhou Ancient House Reporting Clue System" was launched. This system is one of the contents of the new round of census registration, protection and utilization of ancient houses in Fuzhou. By using digital means, everyone can participate in the protection of ancient houses. Citizens can "scan", "shoot" and report the newly discovered ancient houses, endangered ancient houses and ancient houses with potential safety hazards. The relevant departments of ancient houses will verify, reply and implement them in time. "The clues reporting system of Fuzhou ancient houses provides a new path for people to participate in the protection of ancient houses, which greatly enhances people's awareness and enthusiasm for protecting cultural heritage." Wang Shengyang, a volunteer of Mindu culture, said.

Fuzhou ancient houses census registration system built by Fuzhou also played an important role in digital protection of ancient houses. Through this system, professional collectors, experts in ancient architecture, as well as the relevant departments of ancient buildings in cities and counties and grass-roots managers in villages and towns all participate in the new round of census registration, protection and utilization of ancient buildings. Collectors use the "Census of Ancient Houses" APP to locate the site, draw the building ontology, collect the information of ancient houses, take photos and upload them, scan the two-dimensional code of the house number to extract the address, and investigate the current information of ancient houses, etc.

Now, when logging in to the census registration system of Fuzhou ancient houses, you can see that there are dots densely distributed on the map of Fuzhou, which are where Fuzhou ancient houses are located. Open a dot, and relevant building files, status information, planning information, engineering files, photo information and so on can be seen clearly.

"This system has collected 4,783 immovable cultural relics and 1,181 published historical buildings. We will open the information of these ancient monuments to the public through the platform of Fuzhou Ancient Houses Digital Museum and e-Fuzhou APP, so that more citizens can understand the history and culture of Fuzhou ancient monuments and further participate in the protection of ancient monuments." Huang Feng, director of the Fuzhou Historical and Cultural City Management Committee, said.

This year, Fuzhou made a customized protection plan (map) for immovable cultural relics and published historical buildings, determined the building body and protection scope of each ancient house, and defined the use function and protection requirements, so that the repair and protection, daily maintenance, activation and utilization of Fuzhou ancient houses can be "regulated and implemented with precise policies".

Fuzhou has also widely applied high-tech to the protection of ancient buildings. In the mapping and filing work, UAV oblique photography, laser scanning, three-dimensional modeling and other means have been used to establish the three-dimensional archives of ancient buildings, and the environmental layout, architectural structure, value elements, painted murals, steles and other ancillary arts of ancient buildings have been recorded in detail and comprehensively, which has provided important services for the repair, protection, monitoring and research of ancient buildings.

This year, the census of ancient houses in Fuzhou involved 160,000 buildings over 50 years old in 174 towns (streets), and 230 ancient houses were protected and repaired.