Rue des portails commémoratifs

Paifang Street is the main pedestrian spine of Chaozhou Ancient City and one of the most evocative walks in eastern Guangdong. The street takes its name from the commemorative stone arches, or paifang, that line its length — each one erected in honor of a notable Chaozhou official, scholar, general, or virtuous figure from the Ming and Qing dynasties. Walking beneath them, you are effectively reading a compressed chronicle of the city's literati elite.

The arches are not freestanding monuments. They rise directly out of the sidewalk, flush with the arcaded qilou shophouses on either side, so that the whole street reads as a single layered facade of stone, plaster, and timber. The qilou colonnade is a southern Chinese and Southeast Asian vernacular form that provides shaded walkways; here it has survived in unusually continuous condition. Together the paifang and the colonnade give Paifang Street one of the most distinctive streetscapes in the Pearl River Delta region.

For foreign visitors, the street works both as sightseeing and as an edible introduction to Teochew cooking. Stalls along the colonnade sell rice rolls, fried oyster omelets, marinated goose, peanut candy, and the strong local single-brew Gongfu tea. Chaozhou is one of the cradles of Gongfu cha, and watching a vendor rinse and brew small clay pots in succession is part of the experience. Most shops are family-run and friendly to curious foreigners, even where English is limited.

Paifang Street is closed to cars in its central section and is best visited on foot as part of a wider wander through the ancient city. Guangji Gate Tower and Guangji Bridge sit at the eastern end, while smaller lanes such as Jiadi Lane peel off toward quieter residential courtyards. Try to come both in daytime, when the carved stone and inscriptions are easiest to read, and again after dark, when the arches are up-lit and the street food scene peaks. For a Teochew cultural itinerary, Paifang Street is the unmissable centerpiece.