Hankou opened at 1860. 1865, France built a consulate and its official residence under the British Concession (the orientation of Wucheng: in addition to the southeast and northwest, it also marked the direction of the Yangtze River, such as "up", that is, to the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, "down", that is, to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and so on), which is the second consulate institution in Hankou after Britain. Thirty years later (1896), Hankou French Concession was established.
Map of the French Concession in Old Hankou: It is located between the Russian Concession and the German Concession, starting from Jiang Yan Road in the south, reaching the Friendship Street block of Han Jing Railway in the north, starting from the western wall of the French Consulate Garden in Dongting Street in the west, and reaching the west block of Yiyuan Road in the east. Since then, Britain, Russia, France, Germany and Japan have successively demarcated the Chinese concession. According to historical records, "at that time, the old wall of Hankou had not been demolished, and this area was mostly puddles; After the concession was demarcated and the roads were cleared, it gradually became prosperous "-the city center moved from the bank of Hanshui River to the bank of the Yangtze River, and a" new Hankou "stood on the wasteland and swamp in the past, which was the beginning of Wuhan's urban modernization.
A hundred years have passed. Today, I came to the middle and lower section of Dongting Street, a small street that is neither wide nor quiet. On both sides of the street, there are almost all western-style buildings that have been demolished for nearly a hundred years (except for some that have been shamefully demolished by modern people, which I will mention soon), office buildings or residential buildings (luxury houses and apartments), and the gardens surrounded by walls also have tall magnolia trees, osmanthus trees and swaying branches.
Standing on the street in front of the French Consulate General's compound in Hankou is like an opening in just visiting. From here on, you will browse the French amorous feelings map of Old Hankou with me.
The courtyard of "No.81Dongting Street" (residence of Wuhan government officials) is densely forested, shaded by trees, with red sloping tile roof, gray granite wall, square column gatehouse, large arch window and two-story balcony (now closed)-a small building with simple and elegant style, which has experienced a hundred years of wind and frost (188).
Walking along the street from the gate of the French Consulate, about 100 meters is the official residence of the French Consulate, a small building with colonial style in South Asia (now "No.87 Dongting Street", Civil Air Defense Office), with an age of135 (1865-1988), surrounded by all sides. The architectural style is much more complicated than the consulate. Unfortunately, 1988 was demolished and changed into a square residential building with no style, which made passers-by cry.
Turn right at Dongting Street and walk out of Jiang Yan Road at the intersection of the station. Hankou Branch of France Oriental Credit Union Bank (built in 190 1) is bathed in autumn sunshine: beautiful red brick clear-water exterior walls, elegant arched doors and windows, hollow cylindrical stone fences around the second floor and the top floor, and exquisite baroque carvings protruding from the walls and verandahs-typical French classical architectural style (as shown in the picture). On the street in hankou road, the street in front of the building is the American Consulate General in Hankou (Russian Concession)-from the front of the French Consulate General in South Korea, go down (the Yangtze River flows), turn right from Dongting Street to Station Road, and divide the concession line with the center lines of two streets (Dongting Street and Station Road), one belonging to the French Concession and the other to the Russian Concession.
Turn left on Jiang Yan Road and enter Cai E Road. Go straight and pass two famous old cinemas-Jiefang Cinema and the old "Central Grand Theatre". Wuhan Cinema, the old "Hankou Star Cinema" —— In the early 20th century, Hollywood's black and white silent films and audio films accompanied Hankou citizens to spend their leisure time.
The Deming Hotel ("No.245 Shengli Street", now Jianghan Hotel) across the street from the two cinemas-an L-shaped building with pale yellow and white decorative walls, four snow-white Eliot columns supporting the arcade, and the long colonnade extending to the left garden (as shown in the picture)-was invested by the French businessman Sao Paulo and designed by the French Jews Stessen and his wife. The design 196538.
To the north, Shengli Street, Yuefei Street and Cai E Road meet at Zhongshan Avenue in Hankou, forming the Yangtze River Delta block. Going up from here, standing at the entrance of Jinyuan Building and walking towards the river are quiet communities and office buildings; In the direction of Dazhimen Railway Station, there are noisy commercial areas (as shown in the picture: the old street view in front of Dazhimen Railway Station) and civilian residential areas-the large-scale construction of the French Concession began in the early 20th century: the French patrol house on the street of Zhongshan Avenue (built at 1902, the former site of today's "Jinyuan Building", which was originally a solid and beautiful ancient building and was bombed and rebuilt in the late 1980s). French Catholic Church near Chezhan Road (built in 19 10, gothic building, used for other purposes).
In addition to the above, other dignitaries and rich households have also come here to build houses, such as: Governor of Hubei Province, Governor Xiao Yaonan's House (formerly "Zhongshan Avenue 1 No", now Station Road Sub-district Office, as shown in the figure), Tukunshan House, Asia Foreign Firm, and General Business Office of Industrial and Commercial Assets (now "Station Road 10"). Around these western-style luxury houses with neoclassical architectural style, a large area of "Shikumen" houses have been built, such as Changnianli (pictured), Chandris, Tiansheng Street residential area and so on. -foreign buildings, hutongs and streets were built, and shops, teahouses, restaurants and theaters (such as "Hankou Grand Stage" and now "People's Theatre") were built along the street. The "Tiansheng Stage" (hereinafter referred to as "Tiansheng Theater") is open-the commercial area and residential area are closely intertwined. In this way, it is bustling, people come and go, colorful and orchestral, and it has been lively for a hundred years. ......
Today, I walked up Zhongshan Avenue from Dongting Street, Jiang Yan Road, Cai E Road and Shengli Street, and then I walked through Station Road, Haishou Street, Tiansheng Street and Friendship Street-I walked past the "France" of old Hankou, old streets, old houses, new markets and new people. Every step is a landscape. ......
Note: The French Consulate General in China was established in 1862, one year later than the British Consulate General in China (186 1). The British Concession in Hankou was established in 186 1, and the French Concession was established in 1892, which was thirty years later than the British Concession for two reasons:
1. Since the Second Opium War in China's history, the French mainland has been faced with "domestic troubles and foreign invasion": 1869 Paris riots, 18765438 Franco-Prussian War, 187 1 year Paris Commune Revolution (from historical data, It was not until 1873 that the Germans all withdrew from France. Since then, they have been fighting with Germany for nearly ten years. Coupled with frequent changes in the domestic political situation, they are still too busy to attend to China. By 1883, the domestic political situation was slightly stable, so Southeast Asia immediately became an important target of French overseas colonization. ...
Second, France was committed to overseas colonies: North Africa-including Algeria (see Camus' novel Plague) and Morocco (see the American film Casablanca); Southeast Asia-Vietnam (see Duras' novel Lover, French film Zina), Cambodia (see French film Tiger Brother). So that I have no time to consider the interests of China territory for the time being.
/kloc-At the end of 0/9th century, the French colonies in South Asia were slightly stable. Looking back, the forces of Britain, Russia, Germany and Japan had been established in China at that time. Of course, the French were not convinced. 1892, France and Russia divided the area in the blank space of Hankou Yingde Concession, so there appeared the funny situation that the Russian-French Concession Line I mentioned above was divided in the middle of a street. However, the French still thought that the demarcation was too narrow, so they negotiated with the then China government and crossed Zhongshan Avenue, the boundary line of western concessions, at 1902, and expanded to the north of Hankou, with the goal of reaching Dazhimen Railway Station. Of course, this is because of the Han Jing Railway, a traffic artery that runs through the north and south of China. On the old map of Hankou, only the French Concession has a railway to Han Jing.
As my articles and pictures above show, the establishment of 1892 French Concession and the expansion of 1902 French Concession have played an important role in promoting the construction and development of modern cities in Wuhan.