Source: CCTV.com

12-12-2007 10:21

Three historic streets, which have borne much of the long and prosperous history of Yantai have been given a face lift. Streets of the city in eastern China's Shangdong province, have been restored to what they were more than a hundred years ago.

Chaoyang Street, Haiguan Street and Hai'an Street were at the heart of Yantai's prosperity. That's how it was from the time the city became one of the first Chinese ports to open, in 1861. Then, a hundred years of neglect eroded the lustre of the once elegant streets.

Renovation became a key project this year, when the local government allocated a special fund. Illegal buildings were razed. Historic buildings and the surrounding streets were restored. Now the old streets are like a flash-back to the city's early prosperous era more than a century ago. .

Yantai in Chinese means the place of warning beacons. The name derives from the city's earlier history, back in the Ming Dynasty. Tower beacons were erected to defend against invaders from the sea. Yantai is also the birthplace of the famous Shandong cuisine. The surrounding waters bear a wealth of marine fisheries.

Editor:Liu Fang