Yangji

Clutching your metro cards, feel the rumble beneath your feet as we stand before Yangji Station. This isn’t just another stop on the Guangzhou Metro. Yangji Station holds a story of a vanished village, a testament to the relentless pace of change in modern China. The station opened in 1999. But long before the sleek trains and bustling commuters, this area was home to Yangji Cun, a village with a history stretching back over 900 years. Imagine a tight-knit community, a patchwork of homes and businesses, nestled amidst the burgeoning city. Yangji Cun wasn’t a static relic of the past. It thrived, evolving alongside Guangzhou, even as towering skyscrapers began to dwarf its traditional houses. By 2010, Yangji Cun found itself surrounded by the gleaming modernity of Zhujiang New Town and Wuyang New Town. The village, once a peaceful enclave, became perceived as a pocket of disorder. Reports of theft and robberies increased, fueling the narrative of incompatibility between the old and new. The decision was made. Yangji Cun would be demolished, making way for the “new community” and, indeed, the metro station we stand before. The demolition began on July 1, 2010. The process wasn’t without its struggles. Some residents resisted, clinging to their homes and demanding fair compensation. Stories emerged of extreme measures. Developers even diverted a river to encircle the holdouts, a stark image of the clash between progress and tradition. Eventually, the last homes were razed. Yangji Cun disappeared from the map, its physical presence replaced by the relentless march of development. Yangji Station, built beneath the former village, serves as a poignant reminder of this lost community. As you descend into the station, remember the families who once called this place home. Their story is interwoven with the very fabric of Guangzhou, a city constantly reinventing itself.