Nan Xin Cang was one of the royal granaries for grains and rice storage in Beijing during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was originally built in 1409 during the 7th year of Emperor Yong Le’s reign on the site of Bei Tai Cang which had earlier been erected during the Yuan Dynasty. It is almost the same age as Beijing’s Forbidden City, it was developed and strengthened with the development of the water transport system.

    The royal granaries used ‘Ao’ as the measure for storage, in Qing Dynasty, Nanxincang had up to 76 Aos. At the end of Qing Dynasty, the storage of grains was decreased, and it turned into an armory at the Republic of China era, after the Found of the People’s Republic of China, it became a warehouse for general merchandise.

    Nanxincang currently has nine Aos of storage, is the largest and the best kept historic relic in Beijing for studying the culture regarding the water transportation and granary. It was nominated as a Cultural Relics Reservation Units in Beijing In 1984.

    Beijing Nanxincang Trading Co. Ltd was founded hereon In July 2004 to setup the Nanxincang Cultural and Pedestrian Street with a vision of creating a leisure and recreational Nanxincang .