Shuangkui Alley

Shuangkui Alley

Shuangkui Alley is a protected cultural heritage site of Zhejiang Province.

Shuangkui Alley is located in the northeast of Xiucheng District, adjacent to the ancient canal. It is 54 meters long and 2.5 meters wide, with a flagstone-paved road, representing a typical architectural style of Ming and Qing dynasty alleys.

Shuangkui Alley was built in 1917 when Shaoxing native Song Chuanji bought one acre of land on “Yangguan Street” (so named because the Jiaxing Customs House was built here in the 28th year of the Guangxu reign during the Qing Dynasty (1902), hence the name “Yangguan” or “foreign customs”) to construct this alley, symbolizing “mandarin ducks” and “a single flower with two champions.” It is said that Song originally planned to open a brothel, but due to unforeseen circumstances, he instead built it as residential housing.

At the end of the alley, there is an overstreet building with a brick-arched gate below. The alley contains a total of 26 buildings, arranged in two rows along either side, facing each other with identical layouts. All structures are of brick-and-wood construction, with carved reliefs on the lintels. The facades feature double doors and double hung windows, with lattice-patterned window panes. The beams of the doors on the eastern side are square timber, while those on the western side are round timber, representing the concepts of yin-yang and concave-convex differences, making them easy to distinguish.

The architectural artistry of Shuangkui Alley blends roughness with refinement and maintains tidiness within compactness. It showcases the distinctive charm of Jiangnan water town architecture from the Ming and Qing periods — featuring “one street, one river,” “houses nestling against the river,” and “winding streams and deep alleys.” It is currently the most well-preserved group of old-style residential buildings in the urban area.

In 1981, Shuangkui Alley was listed as a municipal-level key cultural relic for protection.

Admission

10 RMB

Location

Lane in Xiucheng District, Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province; the alley starts from Guangming Street in the north

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Further reading:

· Sixth Batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units