History
The Beijing Daily in June 2009 published an article confirming that in the last years of the Qing Dynasty Xiushui Street (秀水街) had originally been Chou Shui Street (臭水街), "Smelly Water Alley" when it was simply a mud path outside the Jianguo Gate.
The original outdoor Xiushui Market (a.k.a. Silk Alley) was located in Xiushui Dongjie, south-east of Ritan near the First Embassy Area of Beijing. The shopping alley consisted of 410 stalls selling mostly knock-off luxury brand-name garments, silk products and tourist souvenirs. It attracted 20,000 locals and foreigners on weekends and reaped a total annual sales volume of 100 million yuan (US$12.5m). After 20 years of business, the old market was ordered to close down for demolition on January 6, 2005, due to fire-safety hazards, security issues and the absence of land permits from individual landlords. The application for demolition was filed on July 2004 by the Beijing Urban Planning Bureau, the Chaoyang Public Engineering Committee, the Chaoyang Department of Public Security and Fire Fighting, and the Chaoyang Foreign Liaison Office.
Read more about this topic: Silk Street
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