We might just know that the road is the central axis of Hangzhou, and is one of the most congested roads of the city. We didn’t understand the road.
Moganshan Road, previously named Beijing-Hangzhou National Highway, was later called Hangning Road. In1964 it was titled as Moganshan Road, which has remained for more than 50 years till nowadays.
Moganshan Road is about 12 kilometers long from the north to the south. The course covers several districts while mostly in Gongshu. As Gongshu District was known for the strength in industry, there could be plenty of stories about this road.
Hu Jianyong, the 62-year-old gentleman as the former director of Hangzhou Chemical Fiber Factory, had worked for the factory since 1975. In his mind, Moganshan Road was full of dust because there were lots of factories, such as Zhang Xiaoquan Scissors Factory, Huafeng Paper Mill, Hangzhou Chemical Fiber factory, Hangzhou Electric Bulbs Factory, Hangzhou Paint and Ink Factory, Hangzhou Glass Ware factory, etc.
These factories were all the memory of Hangzhou and have seen the transformation and upgrading of Gongshu.
At the end of 2015, the government started a new round of "dressing-up" project for Moganshan Road, including greening, facade renovation and infrastructure improvement, from Shangyuan Road to Haunchen Road (N) with a total length of 10 km.
After half a year of hard work the road was in a bright and new look. It has now a recreational landscape of 5.3 km long and 140,000 square meters in total area. The road is also adorned with artists』 works everywhere to make the new Moganshan Road more attractive.
Hu Jianyong has never thought the new Moganshan Road could be so fascinating. The memories of his youth, as sculptures and cameos reflecting the past industrialized years, are engraved onto the gallery along the road.
From there he found an impressive scissors magnified to 20 times at the relics of Zhang Xiaoquan Scissors Factory to commemorate the change, and a miniature of thermal power plant made of wasted parts to stand aside the towering chimney.
With corroded motor gears and mixed pipe valves, a large number of sculptures made of such machines』 parts are placed along the tree lawn.
The landscape that separates the bustling city is nowadays a guest room of Hangzhou, where residents and tourists can enjoy the open platform, alleys and greenbelt.
The ceramic bricks paved on sidewalks prevent people from being splashed in rainy days, and there are towering trees left such as privets aged more than 20 years, sycamores aged more than 30 years and camphor trees aged more than 50 years, which shows a visual effect appealing to public eyes.
Moganshan Road renovation makes people think about the innovation in the inheritance. Looking at the new road, the aged will recall their youth and have reflections on life, while the young will make traces to understand the history of a city or a road. As for a city, this is a part of the memory.