Heyue Old Street

Heyue Old Street

Heyue Old Street

Heyue Old Street is located on Heyue Isle, which faces Datong Town across the river. Heyue Isle is an alluvial sandbank in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Shaped like a lotus leaf, it was originally called "Heye Isle" (Lotus Leaf Isle). During the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty, it was renamed to its current name, meaning "welcoming merchants with a pleasant countenance." From the Ming and Qing dynasties up to the 1930s, Heyue Street flourished as a bustling market. The entire street had three main streets and thirteen lanes. Most of the street buildings featured carved beams and painted rafters, exuding an antique charm. Among the three main streets, the first street was entirely lined with commercial storefronts; the second mainly housed administrative, tax, financial, and industrial & commercial guild offices; while the third was primarily residential. The thirteen lanes all used “water” (氵) as their radical, named respectively Jiang (River), Han (Han), Cheng (Clear), Qing (Clear), Hao (Vast), Yong (Swim), Ying (Swirl), Hui (Return), Hui (Converge), Zhu (Pond), He (River), Luo (River), and Cang (Blue/Grey). These names reflected both reverence for the river and the traditional belief that water counteracts fire. In the 1920s and 1930s, Heyue Street enjoyed exceptional economic and cultural vitality. It had docks for both large and small steamships—large ones traveling as far as Wuhan upstream and Shanghai downstream, and smaller ones reaching Anqing upstream and Wuhu downstream. The street hosted thermal power plants and various heavy workshops, as well as inns, restaurants, theaters, bathhouses, jewelry shops, and schools. Thanks to its developed water transport and thriving commerce, the area attracted a large migrant population and a mix of people from all walks of life. As a result, gambling dens, opium houses, brothels, churches, and temples also emerged. By the late 1930s, the street’s population exceeded 50,000, earning it the nickname “Little Shanghai.” However, bombings by Japanese invasion aircraft and the scorched-earth tactics employed by the Chinese army during wartime reduced Heyue Street to ashes, turning the once-bustling town into ruins. The surviving Huizhou-style buildings that remain today were rebuilt after the fire and still retain the architectural flavor of the Ming and Qing periods. In 1996, it was listed by the Anhui Provincial Government as part of the second batch of provincial-level historical and cultural preservation areas.