The Three Lanes and Seven Alleys is a historic area in the heart of the city of Fuzhou. Dating originally from the Jin Dynasty in the 4th century AD, the area flourished in the Ming and Qing dynasties. However, in the 1980s, some of the ancient buildings came under threat from commercial development. Thanks to the intervention of Xi Jinping, who was Fuzhou Party Secretary at the time, they were saved, and the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys was preserved as an important cultural heritage site.