牌坊街 Pái fāng jiē is the lane of memorial arches at the heart of old 潮州 Cháozhōu, and it is the single most characteristic street in the city. A 牌坊 pái fāng is a memorial archway, a free-standing stone gate topped with a carved lintel, and for centuries it was the way a Chinese city honoured its own: a scholar who passed the highest exam, an official of great merit, a woman who remained faithful. The old city of 潮州 raised a great many of them, and a long, straight lane running through the old quarter came to carry them one after another, a procession in stone down the middle of the old town. Walking it is to walk a civic roll of honour, and it is the first thing any visitor to 潮州 should do.
The arches that stand today are a mix of the restored originals and faithful reconstructions, because many were lost over the centuries to war and time and the wholesale changes of the twentieth century. The current 牌坊街 is a careful rebuilding of the street as it would have looked, with twenty-two or so arches rising over the pedestrian lane. Each one is named for the person it honours, and the inscription on the lintel tells you who that was and what they did. Between the arches the street is lined with the old shophouses, and these days with a lively run of 粿 shops, tea houses and stalls selling the city’s food.
The street is at its best twice a day. In the evening it is lit and lively, the arches glowing and the lane full of people eating and strolling, and this is the time most visitors see it. Late at night, after the shops close, it goes quiet, and you can walk the lane almost alone, with the arches lit and no one about. In the morning it is unhurried, the shops opening, and a good time to see it before the crowds. Whichever you choose, take the time to read the inscriptions and to look up, because the arches are meant to be seen from the middle of the street, looking up to the lintel for which the whole structure is a name and a memorial.
Practicalities
Tickets. The street is open and free to walk, with no entrance ticket. The individual arches and the shops along it are all publicly accessible, and any charge is the incidental one of what you buy.
Opening hours. The lane is open all day and all night. The shops and tea houses are open roughly 09:00 to 22:00, and the street is at its most atmospheric in the evening when it is lit and in the early morning before the crowds.
Getting there. 牌坊街 is in the 湘桥区 Xiāngqiáo qū old town of 潮州, a short walk from the 广济桥 and the 韩江. It is reached by taxi from 潮汕站 Cháoshàn zhàn on the high-speed line, about thirty minutes.
Closing day. The street has no closing day and is open every day of the year. The individual shops follow their own hours, and many close in the early afternoon for a break, so plan the food stops accordingly.
flowcloud would say that a city which raised a forest of stone arches over its own best citizens, and then rebuilt them when they fell, is a city that decided to make its history a walkable street, and that is a very good way to be remembered.
Getting there: the old town of 潮州 is the base, and 潮汕站 Cháoshàn zhàn on the high-speed rail is the gateway; from there a thirty-minute taxi brings you to the lane of arches.