Baoding Ju Hutong

Ju Hutong is an old alley in Baoding with significant historical and cultural influence. Located on the south side of Yuhua Road in Baoding's Lianchi District and west of Lianchi South Street, it was originally named "Ju Hutong" due to the establishment of a security bureau (biao ju) called Nanju. After the capital was moved to Beijing in the 19th year of the Yongle era (1421), commercial routes to various regions were opened. With the increasing volume of goods and the need to ensure the safety of transportation, security bureaus emerged in Beijing, followed by one in Baoding. The alley where the bureau was located thus became known as Ju Hutong. In the early Republic of China period, the name was changed to Ju Hutong (meaning "Chrysanthemum Alley"), which has been used ever since. The most distinctive feature of Ju Hutong is the presence of courtyards of varying sizes on both sides, with the largest being the Zhongzhou Guild Hall. The alley stretches 220 meters from East South Street in the east to Provincial Government Front Street in the west, situated at the rear of Lianchi. On the north side of the western end stands the Zhaozhong Temple, built in 1906 by Huang Guoxuan, the magistrate of Qingyuan County, to honor Chong Qi, the Minister of Revenue who died in Lianchi during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 (known as the Chong Gong Temple), as well as soldiers who perished in the Sino-Japanese War and the Boxer Rebellion.