The Daopashi Pedestrian Street is one of the famous historical and cultural blocks in the ancient city of Anqing. It is about 200 meters long and about 3 meters wide. There are rows of shops on both sides, and the buildings maintain the style of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The more distinctive landscape in the pedestrian street is the Daopashi archway. It is named because there are carved inverted lions on the base of the archway. The archway was built in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty (1573-1619). It faces east and west. It was originally a white marble archway-style building with four pillars and three gates. The front of the archway is engraved with ‘Imperial Adviser of the Yellow Gate’, and the back is engraved with ‘Imperial Adviser of the Qing Lock’. There are relief patterns of historical figures and stories on the archway, surrounded by dragon patterns. The upper part of the central pillar is carved with mullion patterns. There are four inverted stone lions carved on the base. They have curly hair, round eyes, open mouths and hold melons. The images are vivid. Today, only part of the southern end of the pillar remains, which is 5.4 meters high and 2.35 meters wide. There are carved mullion patterns, cloud dragons and figures on the architrave. In 1986, a cement archway was rebuilt at the west end of the inverted lion street. Opening hours: Open all day from January 1st to December 31st.
