Citang Street, an ancient street in downtown Chengdu, Sichuan Province, reopened on September 15 after years of renovation work.
With a history dating back around 300 years, the street was the cultural center of the city during the 1930s and 1940s.
The Chengdu Office of Xinhua Daily, the first nationwide publicly-issued newspaper of the Communist Party of China, was located on this street from 1938 to 1947. And around 70 percent of Chengdu's book stores at that time were based there.
The street was also home to many art societies. Renowned Chinese artists such as Zhang Daqian and Qi Baishi used to create their paintings there.
The renovation work has transformed Citang Street into a cultural and art-themed business district featuring an art gallery, artist spaces and fashion brands, but the original layout of the area and its historical buildings, riverbed and trees have been retained.
The second phase of the renovation project is currently at the design stage.