开埠光影

1876年《烟台条约》签订，宜昌于次年正式开埠通商。此后，码头成为商贸核心，呈现 “日有千人拱手，夜有万盏明灯” 的蓬勃气象，帆船贸易兴旺，轮船运输业也逐步兴起，宜昌成为长江中上游重要轮船运输交接点。与此同时，因处于长江上游和中游分界处，宜昌作为重要水运集散地，粮食贸易由来已久。湘米、川米等汇聚于此，除稻米外，小麦、玉米等作物交易也十分活跃。各地商人云集，还兼营茶叶、丝绸等货物，也推动着宜昌经济发展。然而，码头工人数量众多，是码头运作的关键。码头附近吊脚楼林立，与码头、船只及劳作人群成为共同构筑起宜昌码头繁荣景象的核心。

The Port of Yichang

In 1876, the Treaty of Yantai was signed, and Yichang was officially opened for trade the following year. Since then, the wharf has become the commercial hub, presenting a vibrant scene described as "during the day, thousands of people bustling about; at night, tens of thousands of lights shining brightly". The sailing trade thrived, and the steamship transportation industry gradually emerged. Yichang became an important transfer point for steamship transportation in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River.At the same time, as the dividing point between the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River, Yichang, as a crucial water - borne transportation distribution center, has a long - standing history of grain trade. Rice from Hunan and Sichuan, among others, converged here. Besides rice, the trade of crops such as wheat and corn was also quite brisk. Merchants from all over flocked to Yichang, and they also engaged in dealing with goods like tea and silk, which in turn propelled the economic development of Yichang.However, a large number of dock workers were the key to the operation of the docks. Stilt houses near the wharves, along with the wharves, ships, and the toiling crowds, jointly constituted the core of the prosperous Yichang dock scene.