Shenyang North Market

Shenyang North Market

The North Market area is situated in the northern part of Heping District, Shenyang City. It borders Shenhe District to the east along Beisanjing Street, SuiChuan Subdistrict to the south along Shifu Avenue, Xita Subdistrict to the west along Nanjing North Street, and Beidaokou Subdistrict to the north along Harbin Road. The jurisdiction covers an area of 0.95 square kilometers, with 9,997 registered households and a population of 34,253. It governs four communities: Zongzhan Road, Huangsi Road, Beishi, and Shifu Road. It is a bustling area that integrates shopping, cultural activities, tourism, and religious events. Covering an area of approximately 500,000 square meters, with a planned area of about 1.2 million square meters, it is one of the three major commercial districts in Shenyang.

North Market combines shopping, residential, dining, entertainment, tourism, culture, finance, and pawnbroking. Major commercial streets in Shenyang such as Shifu Avenue, Nanjing North Street, Heping North Avenue, Beisanjing Street, Huangsi Road, and Beishi First Street surround the area. The renowned North Market delicacies, bathhouses, leisure centers, antiques, flowers, tea houses, folk arts, fishing gear, and more continue to exude the former prosperity of the old Shengjing city day and night.

Temple Culture

Leveraging the municipal government’s efforts to improve the environment around religious temples, the historic appearance of the Huangsi Tablet Tower has been restored.

The drum tower and bell tower have been rebuilt, reviving one of the “Eight Scenic Spots of Shengjing”—the “Huangsi Bell Chime.” Traditional religious activities such as the “Tartar Dance to Expel Ghosts” have also been resumed, fully reflecting China’s policy of religious freedom. Additionally, temple cultural resources have been explored: the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts Sculpture Department has carved the historical story of the white camel carrying the Mahakala golden Buddha into a marble statue of a camel lying on the ground with the golden Buddha on its back. Inscriptions related to the Shisheng Temple written by Qing emperors and literati have been engraved on stelae erected within the temple. Extensive historical records—both official and unofficial—about the Shisheng Temple and Taiping Temple (Xibo Family Temple) have been collected and compiled into volumes. While rescuing ancient temple culture, dilapidated buildings around the Shisheng Temple and Taiping Temple have been relocated and renovated. Following Tibetan architectural styles, antique commercial stalls have been constructed, mainly selling cultural relics, antiques, bronze and jade artifacts, old books, steles and calligraphy paintings, stone carvings, the Four Treasures of the Study (writing brushes, ink sticks, ink slabs, and paper), and traditional painting and calligraphy mounting. Plans include relocating the antique market at the north gate of Nanhu Park and the stationery market on Nanchang Street to create the largest antique cultural market hub in Northeast China around the Shisheng Temple.

Food Culture

Food culture encompasses tea culture, wine culture, and culinary culture. Although Shenyang offers many northeastern local flavors, they are scattered and lack a concentrated effect. The advantages and radiating influence of its ethnic food culture remain underdeveloped. These regional flavors should be gathered to create a fusion effect, highlighting the culinary characteristics of northern Chinese ethnic groups. Therefore, the revitalized North Market should become a comprehensive showcase of northeastern ethnic food culture.

It should feature teahouses, restaurants, and purveyors of famous northeastern liquors, as well as high-end Manchu-Han Imperial Feasts. There should also be popular local snacks beloved by many. This includes street vendors selling: small tofu, water tofu, vegetable tofu, bean noodle rolls, sticky bean buns, sticky fried buns, sticky cakes, rice cakes, cold noodles, mutton soup, fried cakes, sauerkraut pancakes, sour noodle soup, buckwheat noodles, chili congees, pineapple leaf pies, Jinzhou pickles, Korean kimchi, small potatoes, four-season noodles, and chicken frame hot pot. It also includes fine dining establishments serving: Laobian Dumplings, Li Liangui Smoked Meat Pancakes, Majia Shaomai, Yangjia Hanging Oven Pancakes, Laoshanji Haicheng Pies, Najiguan White Meat and Blood Sausage, Tieling Liji Braised Pork, Liaoyang Scallion Pot, Jilin Korean-style cuisine, and Heilongjiang Demoli Fish. The focal point of this food culture should be Beishi First Street, which, by promoting northeastern ethnic culinary traditions, will establish North Market as the hottest food destination in the Northeast.

Opera Culture

Opera Culture. In the 1920s and 1930s, North Market was the most concentrated hub of theaters in all of Northeast China. The revitalized North Market should further highlight the characteristics of northeastern local opera. In terms of opera genres, it should include Tieling Errenzhuan, Southern Liaoning Shadow Puppetry, Fengtian Luozixi, Haicheng Shuqiangge, Dongluozi, Haicheng Huibala, Fuxin Mongolian Opera, Southern Liaoning Opera, Pingju, Puppet Theater, Northern Yue Opera. For folk storytelling genres, it should include Dan Chutou, Lachangxi, Northeastern Drum, Taiping Drum, Bazheng Drum, Kun-Gao Flute Music, Crosstalk, Storytelling, Xihe Drum, Shandong Qinshu, Clapper Talk, Shulai Bao, Zidishu, Mongolian Storytelling, Khoomei, San Lao Ren, Pianshaoli, and Drum and Bell performances. Regarding performers, professional troupes should take the lead, supplemented by folk artists. Shenyang’s acrobatics troupe, storytelling and cross-talk troupe, opera theater, song and dance troupe, chess club, and judo team are all highly talented. They should not only compete for gold and silver medals in international competitions but also entertain the public at North Market. The focus should be around Shenyang Grand Theater and Qingnian Juyichang, with venue construction based on the original layout of North Market. Drawing from history, the venues should be small in scale, elegant and classic in style, with a comfortable and refreshing atmosphere. Integrated with teahouses, restaurants, and food stalls, visitors can enjoy tea and drinks, sample local snacks, and appreciate northeastern local opera culture in a delightful setting.

Costume Culture

Northeastern costume culture is an important component of China’s traditional ethnic cultural system. After thousands of years of historical accumulation, it has formed a distinctive style and system, with Manchu costumes at its core. The typical attire for Manchu women is the Qipao, a one-piece robe. It later evolved into one of China’s most vibrant traditional garments for women and earned the reputation of being the “national dress.” In the revitalized North Market, service personnel in any venue featuring ethnic characteristics should wear attire representing their respective ethnic styles to showcase the charm of ethnic costume culture.

Commodity Culture. Also known as tourism commodity culture, these items serve as carriers reflecting a city’s historical and cultural features, local customs, and economic development. They must fully embody local characteristics and emphasize personalized design. Every resident of Shenyang knows that when visitors come to Shenyang, they’re unsure what to buy for family, and locals leaving Shenyang don’t know what gifts to bring friends. Once-popular items like Hongmei MSG and Hongshuangxi Pressure Cookers have faded into history. So, what are Shenyang’s equivalents of Nanjing Salted Duck, Shanghai Spiced Beans, or Beijing Dried Fruits? Shenyang’s tourism commodity culture has deep roots—it’s just a matter of how we develop it. For example, the uniquely distinctive Gacaha invented by the Xibo people—colorful, intricately designed sheep knucklebones (scientific name: patella), adorned in brocade boxes with explanatory notes—can become a tourism commodity rich in ethnic flavor. Moreover, the Xibo and Manchu peoples of the Northeast are hardy, with “archery and horseback riding” being the “foundation of the Manchus.” Thus, high-quality bows and arrows can also serve as tourism commodities. Other items like slingshots, ice tops (tuoluo), tasseled whips, shuttlecocks, and jump ropes can also be marketed as small tourism goods. The unique northeastern ethnic customs, such as jump rope (also called “flipping strands” or “flipping cow trough”), offer a variety of patterns and immense fun, showcasing girls’ nimble finger skills and intelligence. For food specialties, leveraging the brand influence of North Market and using high-quality northeastern soybeans and peanuts, products like Beierchang-brand salted beans, flavored peanuts, and unusual-flavored corn kernels can be produced.

Others

There’s also folk culture, commercial culture, and so much more. It is the unity of these cultures that forms the rich and colorful system of northeastern folk culture. The manifestation of this system is the timely organization of the North Market Northeast Folk Culture Festival (Temple Fair) in the revitalized North Market. It includes the Northeast Flavor Food Festival, Ancient Culture Festival, Folk Custom Festival, Ethnic Costume Festival, Gacaha Competition, Acrobatics Festival, and Opera Festival. These events promote local products, revive the glory of North Market, and boost Shenyang’s connection with the world…