En'ning Road in central Xiguan historic old downtown in Canton has always been a spot where controversies and even direct conflicts between multiple entities - citizens, government, dwellers, etc. - tend to intensify, due to its long and rich history and equally importantly, its image in the memories of generations of local residents.

Qilou Arcades, the most prominent and symbolic cityscape in Xiguan especially on En'ning Road, has endured a history of vicissitudes. Locals are leaving old Qilou units and traditional urban lifestyles are difficult to be sustained. The space itself is dilapidated, fragmented and decrepit.

It is always hard to stand against the trends in the rapid and relentless urbanization process. Since the traditional urban lives here could never be resuscitated, and that the departure of locals is almost irreversible, any attempts to re-implant so-called vivid scenes of living are more or less a process of gentrification with a hidden pursuit of commercial land development.

In such a despair, a museum of city construction history is considered to be established on the base of a block of abandoned Qilou units. Here, the historic space, as an exhibit itself, is stagnant in the time flow.

DRAWING IMAGES