Seal of friendship: Dongsiwutiao Hutong
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The lane has seen better days. Photos: Yin Yeping |
The lanes around Dongsi Hutong never lack stories to tell. Whether it is a former prince (see A Prince Among Lanes: Dongsishisitiao Hutong, July 13 2010) to high officials in the PRC, the streets themselves are dusty yet lively archives of history that are always ready to reveal their secrets.
Of these lanes, Dongsiwutiao was once the residence of Yu Qian, governor of Jiangsu Province in 1839. During this period, he was considered one of the few honest o¨ cials. When the spread of opium became the most severe issue of the time, he strictly implemented his duty to stop its sale. Yet what happened later was out of his hands. In 1840, the Opium War erupted. Despite a heroic defensive movement, Yu inevitably failed to defeat the British Army and committed suicide just a year later, the highest-ranking casualty of war. Du Yuming, a famous general of the Republic of China during WWII, also inhabited No. 6 in this lane. Unfortunately, because they've never been maintained as historical buildings, these two places have been ravaged by time, like many other cultural relics in the city after 1949.
"This is an ordinary lane with ordinary residents," Ma, a 60-yearold resident, told me. "Nothing particular to explore." Ma is dead wrong. No. 55, in the middle of the lane, is particularly attractive for its bright, newly painted walls. Peeking through its locked red door, I found an elegant garden with a pavilion inside a huge courtyard. Although there is a note indicating it's a cultural relic, local residents clarifi ed that it is now a private siheyuan that was purchased and renovated a few years ago by a government official.
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