The Group of Modern and Contemporary Architectural Buildings on Yingkou West Street

The Group of Modern and Contemporary Architectural Buildings on Yingkou West Street

The Group of Modern and Contemporary Architectural Buildings on Yingkou West Street is a cultural relic protection unit of Liaoning Province.

The Group of Modern and Contemporary Architectural Buildings on Yingkou West Street is located within the jurisdiction of Yushi Subdistrict Office in Xishi District, on the western section of Liahe Street. West Street stretches approximately 1,300 meters.

The western part of our city was the birthplace of Yingkou and served as its political and economic center. After the port was opened, the city gradually expanded from the west to the east. This region, being close to the port, experienced very dynamic economic activity during the modern era, with dense population and numerous shops lined up one after another. Despite more than 200 years of changes, over 30 ancient and modern sites have been preserved to this day, including temples, residences, commercial buildings, and financial institutions. This street block boasts the highest concentration of historical and cultural landmarks in our city. From the original purposes and functional uses of these buildings, one can discern the state of our city's economy, finance, and other developments at the time. Some of these buildings hold significant positions in China’s economic and financial history. These modern and contemporary structures serve as testimonies to the historical evolution of our port city and are important historical and cultural remains for studying the urban development of Yingkou.

Leveraging its geographical advantage at the confluence of sea and river, Yingkou became a hub of trade, leading to the emergence of service-oriented establishments known as “dawu.” These were no longer simple shops or businesses but rather a unique commercial enterprise in Yingkou’s business capital—akin to modern warehousing and transportation companies. They handled wholesale transit, freight forwarding, as well as services such as vehicle and ship rentals, cargo dispatching, trade intermediation, and even accommodation and meals for visiting merchants. Numerous such businesses lined both sides of the two major commercial streets—Laoye Pavilion East and West. Even today, remnants of “dawu” buildings built during the bustling trade era still remain. For example, right across from the former site of the Yingkou Branch of Shanghai Ruichangcheng Head Office—a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit—stands a modern commercial building named Xingmaofu. It was a dawu dealing in dry goods, groceries, and fabrics. Designed and constructed by Chinese architects, the ground floor followed traditional Chinese architectural styles, while the second floor integrated Western design elements with an “European-style” construction approach, making it a classic example of East-meets-West architecture. Its innovative design catered to the contemporary pursuit of novelty, and this style is unique to Yingkou. The rooftop originally housed a large clock tower with a timekeeping bell.

The commercial prosperity of modern Yingkou also led to a flourishing financial sector. Yingkou’s silver smelting industry was renowned throughout modern Chinese history. The credibility of its “Guoluoyin” (smelted silver) system was extremely high, and silver shops were numerous. Statistics show that from 1858 to 1933, there were as many as 73 silver smelting businesses in Yingkou. By the 1920s, six silver shops still operated concurrently. In 1933, when the puppet Manchukuo Ministry of Finance banned the issuance and circulation of Guoluoyin, four shops remained, until they were eventually abolished under Japanese coercion. According to surveys of surviving silver shop buildings, three remain: the former sites of Yongcheng, Shichangde, Yonghuixing, Gongyi, and Dongji silver shops.

Before Yingkou Port was opened, Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners treated illnesses. After the port opened, foreigners came to engage in trade and missionary work but were primarily focused on exploitation, investing little in medicine or public health. In 1892, a cholera epidemic broke out in Yingkou, followed by plague outbreaks in 1899 and 1911, with various infectious diseases occurring frequently. In 1920, Rong Hou, the acting governor of Liaosheng Road, dispatched Dr. Wu Lien-teh, a medical doctor, to investigate the epidemic in Yingkou. He established the “Haikou Quarantine Hospital” at the local Poor Relief Vocational Institute, serving as its director. The original site of the hospital is located within the former grounds of Yingkou No. 4 Middle School and is now in severe disrepair. This building holds significant historical value as a representative structure of Yingkou’s modern medical endeavors.

In modern times, our city developed “Siheyuan”-style buildings that combined storefront workshops at the front with living quarters at the back. These were mainly designed to meet the needs of ethnic Chinese capitalists, small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, and shop owners. In these Siheyuan layouts, the street-facing side was the shop, while the main residence was at the back. Later, a new type of Siheyuan emerged, where the storefront was two stories high, the main residence was also two stories, and the side wings remained single-story. The staircase was open, situated at the corner connecting the main house and the side wings, leading up to the second floor of the residence and the rooftop terrace of the side rooms. The former sites of Dongji Silver Shop and Gongyi Silver Shop are examples of this architectural type.

Modern buildings in Yingkou were primarily constructed and used by Chinese. After the port opened, Western architectural styles were introduced, resulting in a profusion of East-meets-West architectural designs along the western section of Liahe Street. Based on traditional Chinese structural methods, some street-facing buildings were given “Western facades,” featuring elements such as pilasters, round-arched windows, and high parapet walls. Business advertisements were often painted on the raised parapets, which were sometimes intricately decorated, making them resemble single-story buildings. An example is the former site of Yonghuixing. This architectural style is referred to as the “Tongguang Style” (popular during the Tongzhi and Guangxu eras) or sometimes called “Chinese Baroque.” Survey findings indicate that these buildings are distributed along both the north and south sides of the street. Examples of buildings with raised parapets include the former sites of Yuanxingcheng, Taishunxiang Tea House, and Shixing Gold Shop. Those featuring pilasters include the former sites of Xieshengfeng, Dongji Silver Shop, and Xingmaofu. These buildings are of great historical, artistic, and scientific value.

In 2008, Yingkou City carried out comprehensive renovations of the Group of Modern and Contemporary Architectural Buildings on Yingkou West Street. In 2010, the Yingkou Liaohaolao Street Development and Operation Co., Ltd. was established to oversee the protection, development, investment attraction, cultural exchange, and operational management of Yingkou West Street. In 2011, the Yingkou Municipal Government formulated the “Yingkou Measures for the Management of Immovable Cultural Relics Protection” to strengthen oversight.

In 2012, the Yingkou Municipal People’s Government (Ying Zheng [2012] No. 173) designated the Group of Modern and Contemporary Architectural Buildings on Yingkou West Street as a municipal-level cultural relic protection unit. In 2014, the Liaoning Provincial People’s Government (Liao Zheng Fa [2014] No. 27) elevated it to a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit. The cultural relic protection scope and construction control zones announced by the Yingkou Municipal People’s Government (Ying Zheng [2013] No. 185) are as follows: Starting from Ping’an Road in the west to Desheng Road in the east, with the central line of West Street as the baseline, the protected area extends 3 meters outside the surrounding walls of buildings on both the north and south sides (excluding newly constructed buildings). The construction control zone classified as Category III spans from Xin Liaohaogong Street in the south (excluding the former site of the Workers’ Cultural Palace), to the planned road in the north (from the northwest boundary of the Ferry Square to the West Street Pedestrian Street, including the former site of Baoantang); from 3 meters outside the east wall of the former site of Yuxingsheng in the east, to 3 meters outside the west wall of the former site of Tongfazhan in the west. The area within the former site of the Workers’ Cultural Palace is classified as Category IV construction control zone.

Source: Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports, Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television. Contributor: Dong Wenjie

Yushi Subdistrict: Yushi Office is located on the north bank of the Liaohe River in the northwest part of Yingkou city proper. It stretches from Ping’an Road in the east to the Liaohe River estuary in the west, and from Xinxing Street in the south. Covering an area of about 7 square kilometers, it administers four communities—Dukou, Xihuan, Xishichang, and Xidamiao—as well as one police station. It has 18,066 households, a population of 40,925, one vocational high school, one middle school, and two primary schools. It is an old urban district of Yingkou and the birthplace of the city.

This area is rich in Liaohe culture. It includes the provincial-level cultural relic protection unit—the largest existing Mazu Temple in Northeast China, Xidamiao Temple—and our region’s only remaining... More details on Yushi Subdistrict++