| In 2008, I walked along the "modesty" wall surrounding the ruins of Qianmen Avenue 前门大街 (Qiánmén Dàjiē) and hutong 胡同 (hútong). The "restorers" had placed historical photographs along the wall, to show what it once looked like. The photos were in red tone sepia and I transformed them to black and white while filtering them to bring out greater detail in the shadows. This series of photos will have few comments. Most of the historical comments will be found in other sections of the Qianmen pages. Where appropriate, I will have integrated some of the old photos to illustrate change. I love old pictures so I decided to make it easy for you to view them as a set.
Looking toward the northern end of Qianmen Da Jie - Qianmen Avenue toward the archery tower of Zhèngyángmén Gate 正阳门门楼 from the 1880s or 1890s. Both donkeys and horses are pulling the covered delivery vans. There also appears to be an ox in the lower photograph. Make-shift awnings provide shade and the poles are a convenient place to dry the wash.
Below, there is a detail from above with better resolution.
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