12 January—5 Pedestrian Mall 2

    The most amazing thing about this pedestrian walkway was the new archeological display of ancient roads that had been found beneath it and preserved for all to see by erecting plate-glass windows above the excavations.

The Site of a City Street Dating Back to the Seventh Century
    In the summer of 2002, the remains of an ancient street were discovered under the pedestrian area of this road. Field and textual research has dated the origin of the street back to the Tang dynasty (618–907 A.D.). Between then and the period of the Republic of China (1912–1949 A.D.), 10 additional layers were added. The bottom grit layer is around 3 meters below the present surface. At a depth of 4.5 meters, the remains of the Southern Yue kingdom (ca 203–111 B.C.) were found. From 7.9 meters below the surface lies gray-red virgin soil, which reveals that the site was once a riverbed.
    According to historical records, the location of the present Beijing Road was Guangzhou's hub from the Tang dynasty to the Republic of China period.

The Cultural Relics Management Committee of Guangzhou
The People's Government of Yuexiu District of Guangzhou
December, 2002

This is the way the subterranean display appeared. There were points where you could walk right out onto the glass.

Note the people looking down into the display.

Some more curious souls.

The Street Remains of the Song Dynasty (960–1279 A.D.).

A closer view of the old street. I don't know about you, but I think this is really neat!

The Street Remains of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 A.D.).

You can see at least four layers here.

Layers upon layers…

The Entrance Floor of the Ming Gate (1368–1644 A.D.).

Ahead to Dinner At The Noodle House
Back to Guangzhou Jan 04