What's interesting about Ningbo Drum Tower?

As a landmark building, Drum Tower is the birthplace of Ningbo city and the heart of the city. There is an old saying in Ningbo that describes the Drum Tower-"The tower is sealed in the sky, and the front of the Drum Tower is connected to the southeast and northwest."

However, in the minds of most Ningbo people, Drum Tower is synonymous with food street and commercial street: special snacks, antique calligraphy and painting, and small commodities with complete categories. ...

However, with the development of the city, more and more commercial squares are built in front of the house, and the prosperity here is gradually fading.

Once the most prosperous business district in Ningbo, it has gradually fallen behind.

It is said that the first batch of 90-year-olds have stopped visiting the Drum Tower. Today, the Drum Tower, like the Chenghuang Temple, has become the memory of a generation of Ningbo people.

1

Millennium drum tower banquet

According to records, Ningbo Drum Tower was built in the first year of Tang Changqing (82 1 year), with a history of more than 1 100 years. It is the symbol of Ningbo's official statehood and city governance.

The Drum Tower has experienced many vicissitudes and witnessed the changes of Ningbo city.

Approaching the bell and drum tower, the mottled walls are full of traces of years, and the blue bricks and tiles set off the silence after it washed away the lead. Only the bells on the roof of the city echoed on time and spread in all directions.

Once, as long as you boarded the Drum Tower, you could have a panoramic view of Ningbo. Nowadays, there are many high-rise buildings around, so we can't find the feeling of "overlooking Ningbo City", and we can't see the scene of "looking from high-rise buildings at dusk and ships gathering together".

The wheel of history keeps moving forward. 1997 Ningbo develops the area north of pontoon street and transforms it into Gulou commercial pedestrian street. The Drum Tower, which played down its political identity, reappeared as a commercial complex and has developed to this day.

Passing through the ancient city gate, the 100-meter-long antique wooden house in the middle is a stall selling all kinds of handicrafts, calligraphy and painting. There are characteristic blocks such as Antique Street and Southeast Asian Style Street on both sides of the street, which form a "Ningbo Folk Culture Business Travel Base" integrating eating, drinking, traveling, shopping and entertainment with the antique horse-headed wall and winding air corridor in the street.

Many people leave their own exclusive memories here:

Miss Xue: I used to go to Tianyi and Chenghuang Temple when I came to Ningbo. I thought the Drum Tower was just the name of the station. Later, senior one went to school in Haishu, and the Drum Tower became a place to go shopping every week.

Only when you live can you meet delicious food: there is a big tea city in Gulou. I once went there with my friends to buy tea. There is also an agricultural and sideline food store near Zhongshan Park. Fruits are sold on the first floor and agricultural products are sold on the second floor. The price is more expensive than the food market, but the quality here is good. There is also a handmade beading shop, which bought beading for the elderly at home to play with …

Siming on Sword: I like to go to Jiuqu Gallery in Zhongshan Park, listen to the old people singing authentic ancient songs of Yongcheng, and pay tribute to the former residence of Zhang Cang Shui, an anti-Confucianism general in the late Ming Dynasty. Occasionally I climb the Drum Tower, and there are often calligraphy and painting exhibitions of Ningbo people upstairs.

Once, it was a day to visit the Drum Tower, where you could eat, drink and be merry.

2

Gourmet gathering place

However, since ancient times, feelings can't be kept, and only food can win people's hearts. Here, food is still the mainstay.

Chicken chops, stinky tofu, kebabs, cakes, mala Tang, milk tea ... all kinds of snacks are available, and you can fill your stomach by walking around. There are Ningbo cuisine, Sichuan cuisine and Hunan cuisine, as well as exotic foods such as sushi, barbecue and cooking.

Many food shops, business is hot, and it is bound to be cold. "You can sing and I will debut" is inevitable, and it is normal to change the facade and reopen it every once in a while. Of course, there are also a few delicious foods that have stood the test of time and have been passed down to this day.

① pygmy faction

The dwarf pie of Gulou Head Office is absolutely popular here. Crispy crust is very famous in Ningbo because it is delicious and suitable for all ages. Even on weekdays, the queue will be 5 meters away.

Pie mainly has six flavors: sesame, bean paste, coconut milk, mung bean, salt and pepper and osmanthus. After 30 years of operation, the price has risen from the original 10 yuan to 10, and now it has risen to 10 yuan 8, which can be said to be very affordable.

② Aunt Wang Wenchang Youzanzi

As an old-fashioned Youzanzi who is popular in Ningbo, his family's business is also one of the best in the Drum Tower. Youzanzi is a small one, which is not only exquisite in appearance, crisp in texture and crisp in taste, but also sweet and salty.

This shop has a history of more than 40 years. Because the business is booming, the boss also stipulates that each person should buy two kilograms. When business is good, it sells thousands of pounds every day.

③ Fried chestnuts with sweet-scented osmanthus sugar.

In Drum Tower, Youzanzi, Shorty Cake and Gaoji Sweet-scented osmanthus sugar fried chestnuts are called the "Big Three" in snack industry. Gao Ji's sugar-fried chestnuts are big, thin and full of particles. Stripping off the brown coat, the steaming chestnuts are exposed, which tastes fragrant, waxy and sweet.

After 20 years of operation, the quality of chestnuts in this house must be guaranteed. The colder the weather, the better the business of sugar-fried chestnuts. So every year from May to September, the boss rents out the store to others, and then sells sugar-fried chestnuts from September to April. I have to say that the boss is really good at operating at the wrong time.

④ Dongfuyuan Hotel

The Dongfuyuan Hotel and Zhuangyuan Building, built in 1908, once occupied an eye-catching position in Ningbo's catering rivers and lakes. There are not only old Ningbo dishes such as rotten leather bags, yellow croaker and smoked fish, but also special dishes such as rock sugar soft-shelled turtle and braised pork with golden dates.

A century-old brand, the hearts of old Ningbo people are good.

In addition to cooking, the store also sells specialty snacks and various traditional cakes all the year round. This legendary century-old shop has many repeat customers. I think these customers bought not only a delicious meal, but also a memory.

three

Decline and rebirth

In recent years, Ningbo has developed rapidly, the municipal administrative center has moved eastward, commercial squares have sprung up like mushrooms after rain, and the grand occasion of Drum Tower-Tianyi Square is no longer unique. Coupled with the newly opened East Ancient Road in the subway station, the popularity of the Drum Tower has long been worse than before.

Once bustling Gulou Lane, now only scattered pedestrians and empty seats are left. Here, can you recall the prosperity?

The antique street at the end of the alley, I occasionally went shopping with my elders when I was a child, but now few people usually pass by. The excitement here may only belong to lovers of antique circles!

If the first floor is just unpopular, then the business on the second floor can be said to be unsustainable: many shops are closed, and only a few tea rooms, barbershops and snack bars are scattered in the corner.

How does Drum Tower revive and maintain prosperity in the new environment? It used to be the primary problem faced by managers.

However, in October18, 1 1 0/0, the renovated drum tower took on a new look and orientation, and it should be transferred to "academic research, artistic creation exhibition, historical and cultural exhibition" and other aspects.

The stage on Central Park Road, which often organizes various performances on weekends, is one of the important positions for cultural activities in Ningbo. Murals and sculptures can be seen everywhere on the pedestrian street, and the "Legend List of Drum Tower" on the wall tells the history of the Millennium monuments.

Nowadays, the local people go to the Drum Tower less and less, but they often meet travelers carrying suitcases and backpackers from other places. Make a makeover and become a famous tourist card in Ningbo.

With the passage of time, people who used to visit the Drum Tower have grown up, or they are all old, but the memories left in the Drum Tower may be worth cherishing all their lives.

Address of Drum Tower: Park Road, Haishu District, Ningbo

Self-driving: Just navigate to the Drum Tower.

Subway: get off at 1 line and "Gulou" station on Line 2.