After a half-century absence the diangdiang tramcar has reappeared on Qianmen Street, Beijing's oldest and most famous commercial street. It's a sign of the times-Beijing going modern with an old twist-that reflects the country's rapid modernization combined with a rising desire to preserve its culture.

Located in Chongwen District, Qianmen is close to Tiananmen Square and the site of many well-known shops. It was first prosperous in the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) and was regarded as a symbol of Beijing's wealth.

"Qianmen concentrates the city's culture and has been the site of many big events in Beijing's history," said Zhao Shu, Vice Chairman of the Beijing Cultural Association.

Qianmen Street was closed in May 2007 for its largest renovation project in 600 years. The renovation work was intended to smarten up the street while retaining its old Beijing feel.

Early transportation

The return of diangdiang tramcar is just one part of the restoration project. In the old days the tramcar driver had to stamp on the footboard to make the bell hanging in front of the car ring as he drove down the narrow street. People named the tramcar diangdiang after the sound of the bell.

Diangdiang was the earliest modern transportation in Beijing. It was officially put into use in Qianmen on December 17, 1924 and was cancelled in 1958.

At first, diangdiang tramcar adopted a French style, before switching to a Japanese style and finally Chinese. The new tramcars are in the original 1924 French style and allow drivers to stand at either end.

There are few photographs of the old tramcars left, so making modern replicas has been a difficult task. The newly made diangdiang tramcars are identical to the originals, and include antique wooden decorations and the old bells. They have also adopted advanced technology and materials to make them run more efficiently and to prevent environmental damage.

The tramcars start their journey at Wupailou. Built in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), it was the biggest wooden archway in Beijing, and was pulled down by the government in 1958. In 2001, it was reconstructed according to the outlook of the old archway. The only change was that four of its six posts were hung in the air to reduce their influence on the tramline. It was later pulled down again. This time it has been rebuilt in its exact original location and with the original design, using old photographs as a reference.

Imperial Road

Wupailou leads onto a stone rather than concrete road, made of white and gray stone, that creates an air of antiquity.

According to historic records, emperors would pass along Qianmen at least twice a year, so it became known as the imperial road. Restoration work on the road has used 2,000 square meters of white stone and 18,000 square meters of gray.

The new Qianmen Street, from the north to the south, is decorated with imperial-style lights, birdcage-shaped lights and other materials to show Beijing's traditional flavor. "We have saved and restored 76 percent of all the buildings here," revealed Wang Shiren, an expert on ancient architecture.

The designers wanted to restore the architecture of Qianmen according to Ming and Qing dynasty style, but in 1900 it was totally destroyed by foreign invaders and there were no records left.

Because of this they were forced to rely on old photographs of the avenue that was rebuilt in the early part of last century. The north part of the new Qianmen is mainly restored old buildings, while the southern part is more modern.

Old shops and foreign brands

In old times, people could find everything they needed on Qianmen Street. They went to Ruifuxiang for cloth, to Neiliansheng for shoes, to Majuyuan for hats, or to Quanjude for roast duck. Ruifuxiang Cloth Shop has a history of more than 110 years and provided cloth for the first national flag raised at Tiananmen Square.

Although many of the shops along the street now have branches throughout Beijing, local people still prefer to come to Qianmen, the headquarters of the shops.

"Many time-honored shops that originated from Qianmen have decided to come back," said Tian Yun, Board Chairman of Tianjie Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. "When we first made the commercial plan for Qianmen Street, we had already decided to leave 20 percent of space for time-honored shops."

The government of Chongwen District launched an investment-invitation project, targeted at attracting Chinese and international brands. Now, many world famous brands, including Starbucks, Rolex and Nike, have settled on the street. The exterior decoration of these shops is required to show a "Chinese face."

"After the renovation, all the residents here moved to other places, so we will lose some of the most faithful customers. At the same time, since the rent for the shops is higher, the price will go up as well, so it is hard to say whether we can make a stable profit," said Feng Fusheng, the boss of a famous snack restaurant. "Now the customers are mostly domestic and foreign tourists."

Many of the time-honored brands in Qianmen area are snack restaurants of relatively small scale. "Considering this, we have constructed a snack building, which occupies 6,000 square meters, on the southern end of the avenue, to gather together these snack restaurants," said Tian.

Last year, the government of Chongwen District launched a preferential policy to support the time-honored shops: allocating 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) every year to help the old shops return.

However, some people who are familiar with the old Qianmen area have concerns about how much the restoration work will help to keep the original flavor of old Beijing. Jiang Liming, Vice General Manager of B.A. Consulting Co., said that it would be very difficult for Qianmen to rely on the restoration of old buildings to recover its cultural and commercial atmosphere. "The original culture of Qianmen cannot simply grow up in the new pseudo-classic buildings and commercialized shops," he said.