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"De Cheng An", the largest hockshop in Macao

"De Cheng An" began to build in 1917, used to be the largest hockshop in Macao, belonged to merchant prince names Gao Ke ning. It had not been using after completing a course in 1993. In 2001, Macao SAR Government spent 1,400,000 ao yuan in restoring and maintaining, and then handing it to civilian-run enterprises. From then on, "De Cheng An" had beening opened to public as the "Pawnbroking Exhibition" and "Cultural Assembly Hall". Due to the successful protection and utilization case of this history construction, it was honored with 2004 UNESCO Heritage Award.

Pigment Shop

In old times, the pigment sold in shops was made by refining concoctions of plants or mineral products. It was mainly used to dye silk, linen, cotton and other fabrics, as well as to mix color into paints and lacquers.

Inns

Inns are small and cheap hotels for accommodating the poor. The guests were usually small tradesmen, itinerant entertainers and low-income travelers.

Funeral-clothes shop

The ancient Chinese believed unquestioningly the theory of Yin and Yang, which assumed that after death, one's soul would live in the netherworld, or in popular terms, the underworld." There one also would need clothes, articles, and means of transport, just as before death. Burial-articles shops would make and sell clothes, houses, carriages and servants, tied and pasted with stalks and color paper, to be burned at funerals or memorial ceremonies. At ordinary times, they would also undertake the work of tying and pasting ceilings and partition boards, whitewashing walls, pasting beams and...

Bathhouse

Bathhouses used paper lanterns lit with candles hung on high posts as their signs. Some also pasted the characters for "Bathhouse" or their name on the lantern.

Barber

By the 10th century, barbering had gained currency in China. A person working in this trade had been earlier called a "shaver", "hair-cutter" and so on. For a long time, instead of running a shop, such people provided services when called for. Around the 14th century, shavers carrying their tools on a shoulder pole began to appear on the street to solicit customers. Barber's stalls also began to be set up in marketplaces.

Snuff shop

Some snuff shops used gourd-shaped pot forms as their signs. Illustrated here is a corner of the snuff shop facade, a replica found on Suzhou Street in Beijing's Summer Palace. Under its carved eaves hangs a pair of gourd bottles with dragon ears, the bottoms of the bottles with sewn sign pendants. The top of the sign joining the mouths of the bottles is shaped like a glossy ganoderma as an auspicious symbol.

Tobueconist

China developed its overseas trade in the 15th century. Tobacco leaves began to be Introduced from Luzon (part of present-day Philippines). At first, the tobacco produced in northwestern China, east of Shanhai Pass, and in Fujian Province, was of the best quality. Accordingly, people in northern China called the tobacco from the northeast "Guandong Yan" (tobacco from areas east of Shanhai Pass).

Eye Medication Shops

Pharmacies that exclusively sold medications for the eyes usually used vivid picture signs, one such type illustrated here: the wooden crown carved into the shape of ruyl, engraved with flower designs and dyed golden yellow. Three trailing ropes cut across the two white round boards, on each with a drawing of an eye; with a sewn sign pendant at the bottom of each rope. Some shops used white cloth curtains with drawings of eyes as their signs.

Medicated-alcohol Shops

Made by soaking medicinal herbs or animal bones, pilose antlers, snake gallbladders or clams in alcohol, rubbing alcohol is quite effective in treating rheumatism and bone injuries. Those who were physically weak could drink it in order to gain strength.

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