# Southern Song Imperial Street: Hangzhou's Zhongshan Road > Southern Song Imperial Street in Hangzhou: the royal road of the Song capital, now Zhongshan Middle Road, and the 17 listed historic buildings along it. Canonical: https://hangzhoumemory.org/southern-song-imperial-street Updated: 2026-11-01 The Southern Song Imperial Street is the royal road of Lin'an, as Hangzhou was called when it was the Song capital — today the pedestrian stretch of Zhongshan Middle Road. Reopened in 2009 after restoration, it meets Hefang Street and keeps one of the city's densest runs of listed shopfronts. ## The emperor's road An official road ran here already under the Wuyue kingdom; when the Song made Hangzhou their capital in the 12th century, they lengthened and rebuilt it as the **Imperial Street**, the route the emperor travelled, closed to ordinary people and officials alike — hence its other name, the Forbidden Street. With the palace and the imperial ancestral temple it was one of the three great symbols of the dynasty's rule in the city. Like the imperial street of the old Northern Song capital, it allowed shops on both sides, and it became the busiest commercial street in the capital. Records name more than 150 shops along it, in seven trades: everyday goods; taverns and restaurants; cloth and clothing; stationery and books; medicines; gold, silver and money exchange; and places of entertainment. In the Republican era its separate sections were joined under one name, Zhongshan Road. ## The street today From January 2008 the city restored the Zhongshan Road district, and the Imperial Street reopened on 30 September 2009 as a pedestrian street running north–south from Xihu Avenue to Hefang Street. Together the two streets form one of Hangzhou's historic tourist quarters, at the northern foot of [Wu Hill](/new-ten-scenes-of-west-lake). Two older landmarks stand on or near it. The **Phoenix Mosque**, one of China's four great ancient mosques, with a prayer hall of 1281, is on Zhongshan Middle Road itself — see [Hangzhou's temples, mosque and churches](/hangzhou-temples). The **Hu Qing Yu Tang** pharmacy, founded in 1874 and opened in 1878, stands at 95 Dajing Lane nearby; its Jiangnan-style halls are now a museum of traditional Chinese medicine and a working drugstore, and have been a national heritage site since 1988. ## Listed buildings on the street 17 buildings on Zhongshan Middle Road are on Hangzhou's list of declared historic buildings, most of them shops built between the late Qing and the 1940s: department stores, a silk store, drugstores, a post office and the old Jiuzhizhai shop. - [The Old Site of Jiuzhizhai](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/九芝斋旧址) — between 1911 and 1949 - [The Former Site of Shengchang Department Store](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/生昌百货店旧址-2) — 1920s - [The Former Site of Xianzhang Silk Store](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/老杭州印记-历史建筑•名宅-咸章绸庄旧址) — 1920s - [The Former Site of Wuzhou Drugstore](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/古城佳话-历史建筑-五洲药店旧址) — 1920s - [Buildings at 168–4, and 170, Zhongshan Zhong Road](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/中山中路168-4、170号建筑-2) — 1920s - [The Former Site of Huade Drugstore](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/古城佳话-历史建筑-华德药房旧址) — 1920s - [Building at 229, Zhongshan Zhong Road](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/古城佳话-历史建筑-中山中路229号建筑) — 1920s - [Building at 337, Zhongshan Road (M)](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/古城佳话-历史建筑-中山中路337号建筑) — between 1911 and 1949 - [Building at 11, Zhongshan Road (M)](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/古城佳话-历史建筑-中山中路11号建筑) — early 20th century - [Former Site of a Branch Store of Guangheshun Baoyoufang](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/古城佳话-历史建筑-广合顺保佑坊分号旧址) — 1920s - [Buildings at 81, and 83, Zhongshan Road (M)](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/古城佳话-历史建筑-中山中路81、83号建筑) — between 1911 and 1949 - [Buildings at 18, 18-1, and 20, Zhongshan Road (M)](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/古城佳话-历史建筑-中山中路18、18-1、20号建筑) — 1920s - [Buildings at 23, and 25, Zhongshan Road (M)](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/古城佳话-历史建筑-中山中路23、25号建筑) — early 20th century - [Buildings at 45, and 47, Zhongshan Road (M)](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/古城佳话-历史建筑-中山中路45、47号建筑) — between 1911 and 1949 - [Former Site of Yongtai Department Store](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/古城佳话-历史建筑-永泰百货店旧址) — late Qing dynasty - [Former Site of Post Office Branch at Qinghefang](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/古城佳话-历史建筑-清河坊邮政局分局旧址) — 1920s - [Buildings at 12, 14, 16, and 16-2, Zhongshan Road (M)](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/古城佳话-历史建筑-中山中路12、14、16、16-2号建筑) — late Qing dynasty On Hefang Street, which meets it at the southern end, [Buildings at 152, and 154, Hefangjie Street](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/河坊街152、154号建筑) and [Building at 397, Hefangjie Street](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/古城佳话-历史建筑-河坊街397号建筑) are listed too. More of the city's old trading houses are on the [shops and factories](/shops-and-factories) page. ## Frequently asked questions ### Where is the Southern Song Imperial Street? In central Hangzhou: it is the pedestrian section of Zhongshan Middle Road, running from Xihu Avenue in the north to Hefang Street in the south. ### Why is it called the Imperial Street? Because in the Southern Song (1127–1279) it was the road the emperor used in the capital, closed to everyone else, though shops lined both sides. ### How many historic buildings are on the Imperial Street? 17 buildings on Zhongshan Middle Road are on the city's list of declared historic buildings, most of them shops built between the late Qing and the 1940s.