Zhongshanzhong Road, with a history dating back to the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), withstood changes during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and the Republic of China (1912-49) era and remains unchanged today.

Since the Southern Song Dynasty, the area has been the most important commercial center of Hangzhou, the capital city of East China's Zhejiang province. The city was the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty and was then known as Lin'an.

Zhongshanzhong Road, called "Imperial Street" or "Heaven Street" in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), was connected directly to the Imperial Palace and was used by the Emperor's carriage. It was located on the principal axis running south to north in Lin'an, and was the widest and most prosperous road in the city.

During the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), the area was called the "Arab World" as many foreign merchants ran businesses there. It was famed as the "Wall Street in Hangzhou" during the Republic of China era due to its flourishing financial development; it is still home to many old bank sites .

Zhongshanzhong Road has been operating for thousands of years and has kept its vitality and historical continuity since ancient times.

Tourists can still see the ruins of streets and alleys from the Song Dynasty, the religious buildings of the Yuan Dynasty, the old branded stores of the Qing Dynasty, and the banks of the Republic of China. [Photo/IC]

As a traditional commercial district, the Zhongshanzhong Road still retains dozens of time-honored shops such as the local specialty stores of Fang Yuhe, noodle restaurants of Zhuangyuan Hall and Kuiyuan Hall, cotton stores of Gaoyitai, dim sum shops of Jiuzhizhai, clothing outlets of Yufengxiang, and stationeries stores of Shaozhiyan. [Photo/IC]

On both sides of the road, the historical buildings, mostly built from the Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China era, include banks, shops, houses, temples in diverse architectural styles.

The road embraces the most concentrated historical buildings in the modern history of Hangzhou and illustrates many of the city's historical changes. [Photo/IC]