| 江门侨乡行古镇赤坎情
由中国广东省江门市举办的海内外华语电视媒体侨乡江门行活动近期在当地举行。我们的记者此次也受邀前往江门市采访拍摄。江门市辖区范围俗称“五邑”，有“中国第一侨乡”的美誉。祖籍江门的华侨、华人和港澳台同胞现已达376万，分布在全世界五大州107个国家和地区。今天起，就请您跟随我们的记者一起前往位于江门地区的赤坎古镇，了解一下这座古镇的风土民情。
赤坎古镇位于广州省江门市辖下的开平中部，总人口4.8万人。镇区面积三平方公里，四周被潭江支流水系包围，上接恩平、阳江，下通三埠、江门、广州以及港澳，南来北往的水陆运输使赤坎由渡口码头成长为工商市镇。
(采访)馆长
司徒族人和关氏族人是赤坎镇最早的居民，他们把古镇清晰地分为两个部分，西边主要居住关氏家族，东边则主要由司徒族人聚居和经营。两大家族在繁衍发展的过程中互相竞争，形成了各自很强的家族意识。这种强劲的家族意识成了赤坎古镇民风民情的重要组成部分。
(采访)馆长两大家族
20世纪初期，早年赴海外的许多华侨历尽艰辛，稳住脚跟有了积蓄之后，便回国置办产业。关族、司徒氏的华侨将原来低矮的店铺换成有二、三层高的骑楼建筑。它的特点是楼上是居室，楼下前面是店铺，后面为仓库。建筑立面的造型、细部的装饰和小品各有趣味。赤坎古镇至今完好地保存着600座融合中西建筑工艺的骑楼组成的街区。
赤坎古镇前后经历过宋、元、明、清以及法国殖民统治和民国时期，每个时代独特的建筑风格，都是历史的印记。赤坎的各种旧建筑，古典民族风格、欧陆风格、南洋风格、民国风格、甚至前苏联风格的都有，简直就是建筑艺术的博物馆。这也使赤坎成为不少电视制作人青睐的拍摄地点。
A Close Look at the Ancient Chikan Town
Jiangmen International Chinese TV Medium Event will be held by Jiangmen, Guangdong Province. Our correspondent is invited to the activity. Jianmen is commonly referred to as “Wu Yi”(Five Cities) and it is the hometown to many overseas Chinese. There are 3.76 million Chinese residing overseas, of foreign nationalities and from Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan with the origin of Jiangmen. They live in 107 countries of 5 continents. From today, our correspondent will show you the Ancient Chikan Town of Jiangmen and the local traditions and customs.
The Ancient Chikan Town is situated in the middle of Kaiping, Longmen, Guangzhou Province with a population of 48,000. The town, covering 3 square kilometers, is surrounded by distributaries of Tan River with Enping and Yangjiang upstream and Sanbu, Jiangmen, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macau downstream. The convenient land and water transportation has transformed Chikan from a ferry crossing to a commercial town.
Situ Clan and Guanshi Clan were the earliest residents in Chikan. The two clans divided the town into two parts, Guanshi Clan living in the west part while Situ Clan the east part. The two clans competed with each other as time passed and formed strong family awareness. Such awareness has become an important part of the local culture.Interview: Curator Two ClansIn the early 1920s, when overseas Chinese had some savings after arduous trials, they came back home to start their own businesses. Returned overseas Chinese of the two clans renovated the original low shops into two-or-three-storied Qilou(a building structure of South-China's construction style). The room upstairs of Qilou is for living, and downstairs for business. Usually there is a warehouse behind. The style, the decorations of details and the ornamentations are unique. A block of over 600 Qilou buildings combining the traditional Chinese style and western style is left intact in the Ancient Chikan Town.
The Ancient Chikan Town has witnessed Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, Qing Dynasty, French colonial period and the Republic China. Every period has left its marks on the buildings here, making Chikan a building museum. Thanks to its diversified building styles, the Ancient Chikan Town has become the filming spot for many films and TV series. |
