A new lease on history

On a recent afternoon in Bafang Shisanxiang (eight neighborhoods and 13 lanes), a historic district in Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture, Gansu province, tourists stopped to photograph brick-carved doorways and old courtyards, while residents went about their daily routines along the same narrow lanes.

Behind one of the traditional facades, the smell of sauced beef drifted from a family-run shop.

For Ma Hongwei, the shop is also his home.

"We are genuine residents of Bafang Shisanxiang," says Ma, who has lived in the neighborhood for more than 40 years. His family has been here for generations, with his grandfather believed to have settled in the area in the 1920s.

Today, Ma runs a branch of Lao Ma's Sauced Beef, his family's business, from their ancestral home.

His family's story reflects the transformation of Bafang Shisanxiang, which has become a popular cultural tourism destination while retaining its original residents.

"We don't want this neighborhood to become an empty shell without residents," says Wang Weili, deputy general manager of Linxia Fenglin Cultural Tourism Investment.

That principle has guided the renovation: preserving its historic buildings and original street pattern while upgrading infrastructure and improving living conditions.

A living neighborhood

Bafang Shisanxiang refers to eight neighborhoods built around mosque communities and 13 interconnected lanes, with roots tracing back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Historically known as Hezhou, Linxia has long been home to diverse ethnic communities and cultural traditions. The neighborhood has been home to generations of Hui residents.

As the city expanded, the old neighborhood became increasingly crowded, with aging houses, narrow lanes and inadequate infrastructure.

For Ma, the neighborhood of his childhood was essentially a densely populated residential area.

"It was old and run-down," he recalls. "There were a lot of people living here, but it was just a residential area."

A renovation project was launched in 2015 and completed the following year, aiming to improve living conditions without erasing the neighborhood's character. Roads and public facilities were upgraded, while traditional courtyards and the original network of lanes were preserved. Residents were able to remain in their homes rather than being relocated to make way for a new commercial district.

The traditional arrangement of "front shop, back home" remains one of the neighborhood's defining features. Today, Bafang has more than 5,000 residents and over 450 shops and street stalls, selling local Hezhou food, ethnic clothing and products from long-established businesses, Wang says.

Ma's family had once moved its sauced-beef business elsewhere in the city. After the renovation, he returned, becoming one of the first residents to reopen a shop there.

The courtyard was renovated, but its basic layout was retained. Today, customers come for the sauced beef, while some are also drawn by the traditional architecture.

"Some visitors come in to take photos first, and then buy our beef," Ma says. His brother runs a small food business next door, also from the family's own home.

For Ma Zhanxiang, who runs a shop selling local specialties, the most noticeable changes have been in residents' daily lives. The renovation improved houses and paved the lanes, while projects such as replacing coal-fired heating with electricity made homes more comfortable.

"The houses are still the same old houses, but they are more comfortable to live in," he says. More residents have opened shops or set up stalls outside their homes, making the lanes livelier.

He has also noticed a change in the visitor profile. Two years ago, most tourists came from Gansu and neighboring provinces. Now, visitors from Jiangsu, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as well as overseas, are increasingly making their way to the neighborhood. Local specialties such as babao (eight-treasure) tea and bran vinegar are among the popular purchases.

For Ma Xiaoyan, a 60-year-old resident of the Hui ethnic group, who grew up in the neighborhood, the presence of longtime residents is part of what makes Bafang Shisanxiang distinctive.

"Residents who have stayed here are themselves part of the visitor experience," she says. "What tourists see is a living culture, not one confined to a museum."

Keeping residents in their original homes, she adds, preserves the everyday atmosphere and ethnic character of the neighborhood, preventing it from becoming just another imitation old-style commercial street.