Zhujiajiao Water Town is situated forty seven kilometers away from Shanghai; this is a typical and ancient water town in Qingpu, south of the Yangtze River, which has almost 1,700 years of history. Zhujiajiao, also called “The Venice of Shanghai”, features lovely waterways, curved rock bridges, old streets cemented with stone, and over 10,000 buildings dating back to the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing dynasties (1644-1911).
Zhujiajiao is the best-preserved ancient water town among the four ancient towns in Shanghai. In the period of the Three Kingdoms, there were already country fairs in Zhujiajiao and the business prospered in the Ming Dynasty. Now Zhujiajiao is a graceful and quiet town. walking on the zigzag stone pathway and the winding long lanes, you would feel like walking in an elegant and fresh painting. small rivers shaded by willow trees, bridges over the river, houses dated back to the ming and Qing Dynasties, unsophisticated local people, all of these are the charm of the small town. What to See Like several other water towns in this area, Zhujiajiao has numerous historical sites and private gardens, which were designed and built between the Qing and Ming dynasties. Fangsheng Bridge, Kezhi Garden and Yuanjin Buddhist Shrine are the most famous among them.
Between the ancient architecture, Kezhi Park (Majia Garden) situated on North Street is the biggest manor style private park in this town and also one of the largest gardens in the southern China area. The Lawn features lovely sights in quiet and private surroundings. It mainly consists of three parts – a gallery, an artificial hill and a park. In the hill area, there is another piece of magnificent, symbolic architecture – a foursquare five-story building, on the top of which stands a diametric pavilion named ‘Moon View Pavilion.’ This building is considered the tallest architecture in the town. since 2012, a large-scale shopping mall and entertainment complex has been built in the ancient Town. The overdevelopment is taking away the history and threatening the village’s authenticity. Tourists stroll around to see this ancient town with its long history, in the meantime enjoy shopping at those modern shopping and entertainment complexes.
