About a century ago, the Canton authorities demolished most of the ancient city wall to further facilitate urban development. Several arteries crisscrossing the city, such as Wing-Hon Road, Chung-Hwa Road and Tai-Ping Road (running from north to south) as well as Wai-Oi Road and Yat-Tak Road (going from east to west) formed an early urban traffic network. Meanwhile, more and more arcades appeared along both sides of city streets, now considered to be one of the most distinctive symbols of Cantonese urban architecture.

 

 
Wing-Hon Road, known today as Beijing Lu, has been the commercial and cultural centre of downtown Canton for hundreds of years. A modern department store named Nam-Hing can be seen on the left side of the postcard. (Circa 1920s)
 

 
The present Jiefang Zhong Lu was once known as Chung-Hwa Road, and the area surrounding it was named Sei-Pai-Lau after the four large stone Pailous (traditional memorial archways) standing along the street. Outdoor businesses were booming on Chung-Hwa Road and the citizens of Canton, especially young singles, would celebrate there every Lantern Day during the Chinese Spring Festival. (Circa 1930s)

 

 

 
In the past, four intricately carved Pailous (archways) had been erected along Chung-Hwa Road. Unfortunately, three of them have been destroyed over the years (one was preserved, however, now located on the campus of the Sun Yat-sen University in Haizhu District). Rickshaws, the most popular means of transportation at that time, can be seen moving here and there on the street. (Circa 1930s)

 

 

A policeman can be seen here directing traffic on Chung-Hwa Road in this nostalgic image. (Circa 1920s)

 

 

 
These postcards capture images of old fashioned buses and rickshaws running along Tai-Ping Road, one of the widest streets in the city, where many shops and well known hotels were located. The street was renamed Renmin Nan Lu in the mid 1960s, with the Renmin Viaduct running above it. (Circa 1930s)

 

 
Wai-Oi Road, renamed Zhongshan Wu Lu in the 1950s in memory of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, was a major thoroughfare traversing the downtown area from east to west. A large number of reputable establishments bearing the history and memories of daily Cantonese life were assembled there, such as the Wai-Yu Teahouse and the Sun-Hwa Cinema, which were demolished to make way for the metro in the 1990s. (Circa 1920s)

 

 

 
Canton fell to Japan in 1938, and most of the shops on Wai-Oi Road were operated by the Japanese. Here, Japanese soldiers can be seen patrolling the street. (Circa 1930s)

 

 
Wai-Oi Road was once full of five-colored flags, which initially served as the national flag of the Kuomintang's Republic of China. The five colors – namely red, yellow, blue, white and black – represented the harmonious republic of the five major races of China, including the Han, the Manchu, the Mongol, the Moslem and the Tibetan. The flag was abandoned by the Kuomintang authorities in the late 1920s, but reused by the pro-Japanese puppet regime during Canton's occupation. (Circa 1930s)

 

 
Yat-Tak Road, referred to as Yide Lu nowadays, has been famous for its dried food business for more than a century. Various types of dried food, such as dried fruit, dried mushrooms and dried seafood can still be purchased there at fair prices. (Circa 1920s)

(Written by Wilson Shengwen Mai and revised by Stephen Roach)