曾經(jīng)，這里有重慶的第一大橋
——化龍橋

□ 文/本刊記者 楊艷

曾經(jīng)，這里有重慶的第一大橋
——化龍橋

□ 文/本刊記者 楊艷

從嘉陵江對岸看過去的老化龍橋全景。

5月中旬，重慶首條螺旋式隧道大化路隧道通車，從大坪虎頭巖出發(fā)，5分鐘就能到達(dá)化龍橋，像大化路這樣日益便利的交通給化龍橋一帶輸入了新活力。經(jīng)過10年大刀闊斧的改變，當(dāng)年破舊的工業(yè)區(qū)已經(jīng)消失，一片片高端住宅區(qū)、一棟棟國際化寫字樓拔地而起，而保留著山城風(fēng)格的建筑變身為畫廊、餐廳，來往于此的人也越來越“洋氣”。如今的化龍橋片走在了城市發(fā)展的“快車道”上。

隨著外向型經(jīng)濟的發(fā)展，重慶在世界舞臺上吸引了越來越多的關(guān)注目光。一大批跨國企業(yè)、世界500強進駐重慶，為重慶帶來許多國際精英，化龍橋片區(qū)也漸漸成為擁有最多外籍人口的居住區(qū)。然而，許多新化龍橋人對過去的化龍橋卻一無所知，請跟隨本文，一起走進上世紀(jì)50年代的化龍橋看看。

誕生 重慶第一座公路大橋

化龍橋片區(qū)位于重慶市渝中半島西面，緊鄰嘉陵江，總面積1.76平方公里，東西長約3公里，南北寬約1公里，地勢南高北低形似柳葉。

《巴縣志》上有記載，在重慶以龍命名的橋有18個之多，而化龍橋是其中最出名的一座。化龍橋瀕臨嘉陵江南岸，經(jīng)常遭遇水患，傳說是因一條孽龍作怪，于是修一座橋用以降龍，化龍橋名字由此得來?！吨貞c地區(qū)古小說與民間故事研究》中又提到關(guān)于化龍橋的另一個民間傳說，明朝建文帝與燕王朱棣爭奪皇權(quán)落敗，逃至重慶，隱居于建文峰。相傳，建文帝從建文峰沿著化龍橋、小龍坎一帶逃到磁器口，在化龍橋一帶突然不見蹤影，此時天空隱約有條金龍一閃而過，是建文帝化身為龍，躲過了追殺，此橋就被稱作化龍橋。而附近還有不少地名與龍的傳說有關(guān)，如小龍坎、龍隱山、龍隱鎮(zhèn)。

傳說終究是傳說，事實上，現(xiàn)在不少人并不知道化龍橋曾是重慶歷史上第一座公路大橋的名字。上世紀(jì)30年代初，重慶興建公路，其中最著名的3條公路成渝公路、川黔公路和川湘公路分別在那時建成，而化龍橋是成渝公路的交通命脈，從渝出發(fā)至成都，必經(jīng)化龍橋。1932年，化龍橋開始修建，建成的化龍橋拿下3個第一的頭銜：重慶第一座具有傳統(tǒng)橋梁風(fēng)格的現(xiàn)代橋梁、重慶第一座城市公路大橋，重慶第一大橋。所以說，重慶作為“橋都”，化龍橋開啟了重慶公路橋史的首頁，而后來，這個名字也逐漸成為這一帶的總稱。

① 早期規(guī)模大且效益好的工廠子弟校教學(xué)質(zhì)量與條件不比公辦學(xué)校差。

繁榮 “工廠 一條街”的時代印象

一直以來，與重慶其他地區(qū)相比，化龍橋呈現(xiàn)著不同的氣質(zhì)。對化龍橋最深的印象就是重慶主城著名的舊工業(yè)區(qū)，這里匯聚不少老廠，曾被稱為“工廠一條街”，是重慶的經(jīng)濟生產(chǎn)力的源頭之一，工廠歲月是化龍橋歷史上濃墨重彩的一筆。2016年主持策劃連州國際攝影節(jié)特別展《你好，化龍橋》的王遠(yuǎn)凌策展團隊，在化龍橋改建的最后時期搜集到來自老工廠的檔案文獻，它們以圖片形式展現(xiàn)了這一地區(qū)輝煌的工業(yè)歷史，并復(fù)原工人這個最龐大最活躍的群體在重慶的真實寫照。對化龍橋的這段過去，王遠(yuǎn)凌頗為了解：“從上世紀(jì)50年代到最興盛的80年代中至90年代初期是化龍橋最為熱鬧的時候，這一帶擁有不同于現(xiàn)在的繁榮景象。”

重慶是中國西部老工業(yè)城市，由于化龍橋位于重慶至成都的老路旁，是出入重慶的必經(jīng)之路之一，借助水路、公路的交通便利和緊鄰中心城區(qū)的地理優(yōu)勢，一座座工廠在此建起來，這里逐漸成為城區(qū)內(nèi)重要的工業(yè)區(qū)。

② 工業(yè)時代工人繁忙的身影。

建國初期，在優(yōu)先發(fā)展重工業(yè)和加快實現(xiàn)國家工業(yè)化的進程中，化龍橋一帶的工廠在公私合營改造中全部成為國有企業(yè)，成為城市財政的主要收入來源。據(jù)了解，化龍橋轄區(qū)內(nèi)的工廠主要以機電、橡膠以及汽車配件生產(chǎn)為主，這里有西南地區(qū)最老的橡膠工業(yè)基地—中南橡膠廠，有重慶最老的微電機廠、重慶特種電機廠、重慶電器廠，重慶汽車配件制造總廠，如紅巖彈簧廠、卡福汽車配件公司，另外還包括重慶閥門廠、重慶造紙研究所、備戰(zhàn)糧庫等國有企業(yè)，早年還有大大小小數(shù)十家街道企業(yè)，主要從事零件加工等工作。

在鼎盛時期，龍頭橋達(dá)到200多家工業(yè)企業(yè)，近5萬人，這里熱鬧、繁華、富庶，職工福利待遇豐厚，能成為國營大廠的職工是一件相當(dāng)驕傲的事。

工廠就像一個龐大的社區(qū)，有醫(yī)院，還有學(xué)校，工廠學(xué)校被稱為“子弟?！?，校建制完整，配備齊全，有醫(yī)務(wù)室，還有操場。職工后代從小就在廠里子弟校讀書，從幼兒園到小學(xué)、初中、技校，直到分配工作，職工孩子的成長與就業(yè)皆有保障。

改變 老化龍橋人的集體愿望

時過境遷，上世紀(jì)90年代國家對國有企業(yè)進行改革，曾為國家為城市發(fā)展作出過重大貢獻的企業(yè)，因技術(shù)落后，設(shè)備陳舊，產(chǎn)品滯銷等因素漸漸失去市場競爭力，大批企業(yè)陸續(xù)宣告破產(chǎn)?；垬虻墓S也沒逃過同樣的命運，從最讓人羨慕的區(qū)域變成了重慶主城區(qū)內(nèi)面積最大的欠發(fā)達(dá)地區(qū)。建筑陳舊布局凌亂，道路狹窄，居住環(huán)境惡劣，這是老化龍橋人搬離時的集體印象。讓這一帶得到改造，是扎根于此數(shù)十載的老化龍橋人的集體愿望。

作為重慶市中心城區(qū)最大的一片舊工業(yè)區(qū)，它的更新改造成為改善城市環(huán)境的重要目標(biāo)。借助西部大開發(fā)，加強內(nèi)地與港澳地區(qū)經(jīng)貿(mào)合作的春風(fēng)，后來成功引進一家香港地產(chǎn)公司對這一片區(qū)進行改造建設(shè)?；垬蚱瑓^(qū)于2007年終于開始動工，這個待開發(fā)的落后片區(qū)終于等來了它第二次大改變。

在2005年之前化龍橋居住了12000多戶家庭。從2005年起化龍橋地區(qū)開始進行整體改造，直到2016年1月1日，該片區(qū)最后一片工廠家屬區(qū)搬遷工作全部完成……

① 改造前的化龍橋。

② 改造前的工廠大門。

新“家” 新化龍橋人來此扎根

現(xiàn)在的化龍橋在面貌上和格局上發(fā)生了天翻地覆的提升，曾經(jīng)那些為化龍橋作出過貢獻的老化龍橋人大多已不住在這里，新的城市開荒者來到這里，創(chuàng)造出新天地，文化劇場、吊腳樓，以及充滿異域風(fēng)情的建筑錯落有致，多元化的氣質(zhì)和氛圍一下子成為城市文藝青年、時尚人士的聚集地，也吸引不少外國人來此居住，這里逐漸形成一個國際化社區(qū)。

① 變遷中的化龍橋。

② 一批外國人成為新龍橋人。

來自美國德克薩斯州的Chance Birdwell，是解放碑蘋果公司高層，居住在化龍橋一棟26層的公寓里。他說他和妻子很享受居住在這里，在這里能看到山和嘉陵江，還有寺廟，舒適的環(huán)境和友善的鄰居是他選擇居住于此的理由。Alex Gaspar是巴西人，2005年就來到中國，妻子是貴州人，一家人定居在化龍橋，雖然沒有見到化龍橋“工廠一條街”的景象，但是他見過建設(shè)中的化龍橋。他說：“我記得當(dāng)時這片區(qū)域新的高樓正在建造中，在修建的10年里，其中有兩年時間我回了巴西，當(dāng)我再次回到重慶，發(fā)現(xiàn)曾經(jīng)只有兩棟樓的化龍橋一下子變成了5棟建筑，這是發(fā)生在我眼前的巨變，讓我十分震驚?！彼袊@，沒有哪個國家像中國這樣發(fā)展迅速，“就像重慶的地鐵，兩年就能修完兩條，但是在巴西，修好兩條地鐵可能需要20年?！?/p>

化龍橋的變化不僅讓Alex Gaspar一樣的外國人驚嘆，讓重慶人也同樣感慨，這是一個城市自我更新與成長的過程。近年，化龍橋地區(qū)逐漸實現(xiàn)交通大升級，重慶首條螺旋式隧道大化路隧道通車；重慶軌道交通9號線又將以高架形式在重慶天地的商業(yè)裙樓內(nèi)設(shè)化龍橋站；這里還將出現(xiàn)一條過江索道，直達(dá)對面的江北區(qū)鴻恩寺公園附近，該項目正在審批中，這些正在規(guī)劃或建設(shè)中的項目將是化龍橋更加繁榮的助推劑……

但無論化龍橋怎么改變，它擁有的獨特氣質(zhì)是其他地方不可復(fù)制的。

（本文所有圖片均為2016年連州國際攝影節(jié)特別展《你好，化龍橋》展出圖，經(jīng)活動方授權(quán)使用，版權(quán)歸原作者所有，未經(jīng)授權(quán)不得轉(zhuǎn)載。）

Nowadays, ten years has witnessed tremendous changes in the area surrounding the Hualong Bridge (hereafter referred to as Hualongqiao Area) as the rundown industrial area has disappeared; the highend residential area and international high-end office buildings sprout out; people who come and go here become more and more “exotic”. A large number of transnational enterprises and the World's Top 500 enterprises enter into Chongqing, pooling lots of international elites for Chongqing. For that reason, Hualongqiao Area accommodates the largest foreign population. However, many new dwellers in the Hualongqiao Area have no idea about what it was like in 1950s.

The First Highway Bridge in Chongqing Was Born

Seated in the west of Yuzhong Peninsula of Chongqing and being adjacent to Jialing River, Hualongqiao Area occupies a total area of 1.76 square kilometers with the length of 3 kilometers from east to west and width of 1 kilometers from south to north, and it goes high in its south and moves down in the north shaped like the willow leaf.

It is recorded in the Baxian County Annals that there are eighteen bridges named with Dragon or more in Chongqing, among which Hualong Bridge enjoys the greatest reputation. Hualong Bridge adjoining to the south bank of Jialing River frequently suffered from fl ood. It won its name from such a legend that as an evil dragon made trouble in the folk, a bridge was thus built to beat that dragon. Another folk tale about Hualong Bridge recorded in the Research on the Ancient Novels and Folk Tales in Chongqing tells that in the Ming Dynasty, Jianwen Emperor fl ed to Chongqing and lived in seclusion in Jianwen Mountain after defeated by Zhu Li, the Prince of Yan, in the fi ghting for imperial power. According to the legend, when Jianwen Emperor started his step from the Jianwen Mountain and fl ed to Ciqikou along the Hualong Bridge and Xiaolongkan, he disappeared in around the Hualong Bridge, and at that time, a golden dragon was faintly seen to fl ash across the sky. As a result, it was said that Jianwen Emperor incarnated into a dragon, and then was saved from the murder. Therefore, this bridge was called Hualong Bridge.

In fact, fewer people know that Hualong Bridge was the fi rst highway bridge in the history of Chongqing. In the early of 1930s, Chongqing was enthusiastic about building highways. Positioned as the lifeline connecting Chengdu and Chongqing, it was on the crucial way to Chengdu for Chongqing people. Hualong Bridge was built in 1932, and after its completion, it won three toptitles: the first modern bridge with traditional style in Chongqing, the first highway bridge in Chongqing and the biggest bridge in Chongqing at that time.

The Impression of the Prosperous Time of “Factory Street”

Compared with other areas of Chongqing, Hualongqiao Area shows a different temperament. The deepest impression left upon us by Hualongqiao Area is the famous old industrial area in the main city of Chongqing where there gathered many old factories so as to win its surname of “factory street”. Thus, it served as one of the sources of economic productivity in Chongqing. The past years about factories in Hualongqiao Area boasts a heavy and colorful chapter in the history of Hualongqiao Area.

Chongqing was ever an old industrial city in West China. Due to traffic convenience with both waterways and highways and advantageous position as it is adjacent to central city, a number of factories were built there so that it grew to an important industrial zone within the city, making a great contribution to its economic development.

At the height of its prosperity, there were more than 200 enterprises in the area of Longtou Bridge with a big population of about 50 thousand. This district was prosperous and bustling in which workers received generous welfare and benefits so that it was proud to work in the stated-owned factory at that time. Under the support of national planned economic policy, state-owned enterprises possessed great priority in the material supply and status.

Like a huge community, there were hospitals and schools in factory. The school in factory called “Zidi School” had a complete system and were well appointed as they were equipped with clinic and playground. The children of employees could receive a complete education until job assignment in the factory schools including kindergarten, middle school and technical school to guarantee their growth and employment. As an important part of Chongqing history, the old industrial zone endowed this city and its residents with an arduous personality and spirit.

Change, the Common Wish of Old Residents in Hualongqiao Area

Time changes. With deepening of reform and opening-up policy and improvement of socialist economic market system, our country launched a reform for the state-owned enterprises in 1990s, thus entering into era of socialist economic market system. Having made a great contribution to the development of country and cities, a large number of enterprises were less competitive due to technological backwardness, ropey equipment and unmarketable products and suffered from bankruptcy. Factories in Hualongqiao Area failed to escape from this evil fate. Finally, the most desiring area became to the biggest least-developed area in the main city of Chongqing. The long-time residents had such terrible impression on the Hualongqiao Area when they left there that it had old buildings, messy layout, narrow roads and poor living conditions. They embraced a common wish that it can be transformed.

Being the biggest old industrial zone in the central city of Chongqing, it upholds a major aim to improve the city’s environment by transformation and renovation. With support of Western Development Strategy and opportunity to strengthen economic and trade cooperation between mainland and Hong Kong and Macao, Hualongqiao Area started its journey of renovation. It introduced a real estate company responsible for its renovation and reconstruction, thus opening a new historic chapter.

Before 2005, more than 12 thousand households lived in Hualongqiao Area ,most of which were laid-off workers with monthly income less than 1000 yuan. Overall renovation of Hualongqiao Area began in 2005; until January 1, 2016, the relocation of the whole factory’s households have been completed; the renovation was finally under construction in 2007; this least-developed area fi nally met its second big change.

New Residents Take Root in New Hualongqiao Area

Tremendous improvements have been made in the appearance and pattern of Hualongqiao Area. The past residents in Hualongqiao Area who made great contributions to its development have left there while new city pioneers settle down there to create a new world which is decorated with cultural theater, stilted building and well-proportioned exotic buildings. Its diverse features make it a gathering place for urban petty bourgeoisie and also attract many foreigners to live there, thus a modern international community coming to being.

In recent years, great upgrading in traffic has been achieved in Hualongqiao Area as Dahua Road Tunnel—the fi rst spiral tunnel in Chongqing is open to traffi c; Hualongqiao station of the Chongqing rail transit line 9 will be set in the elevated form in the Chongqing Tiandi commercial podium. It is reported that there will be a rivercrossing cableway by which people can directly reach the opposite side—the place near Hongensi Park in Jiangbei District. This project is under approval. These under-construction projects will act as the driving force to promote the prosperity of Hualongqiao Area. No matter how it changes, its unique temperament cannot be copied.

(All pictures in this article are authorized by the organizer; the copyright is owned by the original author, and it shall not be reprinted without authorization.)

Hualong Bridge, the Biggest Bridge in Chongqing

□ Article/Journalist Yang Yan