Zhujiajiao Water Town Shanghai

Zhujiajiao is a typical ancient water town in the south of the Yangtze River. Located 60 km west to Shanghai, it only takes about one hour to get there by bus from Shanghai Downtown. There are a lot of things you can see at Zhujiajiao, such as the well-preserved Ming and Qing architecture, ancient stone bridges, ancient streets, etc. it was founded about 1700 years ago and was famous for cloth and rice business. It has another elegant name - Pearl Stream.

Located on the banks of Dianshan Lake in the western suburbs of Shanghai, Zhujiajiao covers a total of 138 sq. kms, including an ancient-town area of 2.7 sq. kms. It was found almost 1700 years ago, and became prosperous with cloth and rice businesses; there are still remains of historical sites like old rice and oil stores, ancient bridges. There is numerous rivers criss-crossing the town, 9 long streets run along the river, thousands of ancient buildings stand on the banks of the rivers with more than 30 old bridges adding to the beauty of the town and every bridge is unique and has its own story to tell.

Favourite spots:
The most fascinating thing about this old town is the rivers and old houses which are still same from outside and even the local people lives is same. Through half-closed wooden doors, we saw housewives busy working around kitchen, preparing meals, as the aromatic flavors of the dishes spilled onto the street.

Peddlers traveled from lane to lane, selling local snacks, such as rice dumplings stuffed with pork with bamboo leaves, old people were seen sitting outside on the streets to get some sun shine. Mostly houses are two storied and the top floor is used for living while the ground is mainly for storage and kitchen purposes.

Many houses have miniature gardens, due to lack of space. Almost all the people in the town were engage in some sort of business. People used to make handcraft in the small rooms. It was nice to see that all the houses were having a typical Chines red pendant on the doors.

Sights
1. Fisherman house is first one to see and it has 3 sections,fish culture,fishermen habits, fish production.
2. Ancestor pottery hall, has large collections of the stone ware and pottery and jade ware used by the local people.
3. Chines medicine shop contains all the herbal and animal extracts medicines.
4. Silk road museum, displays the tech. used for silk productions.
5. Baoguo monastery, build in Ming dynasty on Dianshan Lake, there is one thousand year gingko tree and marble statue.
6. Post office, build in 1875 was one of the main post offices of shanghai.
7. Town Gods temple,Buddha temple.
8. Hall of paddy and rice custom, displays the long history and culture of rice growing in town.
9. Kezhi garden, one of the best traditional Chinese garden.
10. Long rainbow bridge,70 mts long bridge.

Addresss: Zhujiajiao Water Town, Qingpu District, Shanghai
Admission Fee:
Opening Hours:
Recommending Time for a Visit: 5-6 hours
Transportation: From the shanghai Renmin Square, Many buses are available to this town on every 30minutes, bus fare, RMB 18. Its always better to go by bus rather than the taxi which will charge around 150RMB one way.
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