Shangxiajiu was the the first commercial pedestrian street in the city in a prosperous traditional commercial district. The shops and restaurants are housed in the old 1000 year-old Qi Lou buildings, a building style native to this city and its neighboring areas, on both sides of the road. They have tried to preserve traditional style buildings to give it an old world charm. It is about a kilometre long, a nicely paved street with malls and lanes that extend out into every direction. 

There are more than 200 stores: brand name restaurants, teahouses small retail stores, clothing and shoe shops, cafes, restaurants, food courts, street food, and many many people to watch and mingle with. The shops are a mixture of international and local brands including McDonald's, KFC and 7 Eleven. There was WiFi everywhere along the street.

The street is free of traffic except for bicycles making deliveries and occasional small police patrol vehicles.

We were quite intrigued by the countless bronze statues situated down the middle of the wide street -- many of which represented bygone eras. We took photos of most of them and we've featured them in the two following pages, although seven goofy Canucks got in the way of most of the photos.. 

The street was only a few minutes walk to Shamian Island and the Pearl River which was our next destination.