'Harmony is precious, amity is beautiful': Qingshan and Mudu Village

Qingshan has an Outlets, which is almost known to everyone in Shanghai, but not everyone knows about the Mudu Village next to the Outlets. On New Year's Day 2024, I drove to Mudu Village with my friends and family to enjoy the leisurely pastoral scenery and find a quiet and elegant place. Mudu Village is located in the eastern part of Zhaoxiang Town, Shanghai. It is a typical suburban village with Line 17 running through the whole area. Mudu Village has a long history. It is said that during the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, there was a small river in the village. On both sides of the river lived two big families, the Lu family and the Ma family. They got along well and jointly built a wooden bridge named 'Lu Mu Bridge'. Later, the two families had a conflict and became enemies, and the bridge was demolished. As time went by, the grudges between the two families disappeared. In order for their descendants to live in harmony, the two families built another bridge named 'He Mu Bridge'. The name of Mudu Village comes from this. Today, although the He Mu Bridge is no longer there, the life philosophy of 'harmony is precious, amity is beautiful' is always in the hearts of the villagers. Since 2013, Mudu Village has successfully become a model village of beautiful countryside and rural revitalization in Shanghai. When visiting Mudu Village, the most worth visiting is of course the Mudu Water Street. A small river runs through the street, the river water is rippling, clear and green. Standing on the riverside viewing platform, or moving to the Magpie Bridge, strolling along the riverside plank road, you can enjoy the beautiful scenery on both sides, the green grass is everywhere, the trees are lush, the white walls and black tiles of the unified style of residential houses are lined up, blending with the surrounding rural scenery. The 'water' in Water Street refers to the Xu Jing River that flows through the village. According to local villagers, in the 1920s, there was a Lu Ma Bridge market in the Xu Jing River basin, built along the river, with many merchant ships, houses built by the water, streets full of shops, people gathering for the market, and a strong atmosphere of life. With the changes of history, the Lu Ma Bridge market gradually disappeared. More than half a century has passed, and now, the houses transferred from the farmhouses along the street on both sides of the Xu Jing River have been transformed into teahouses, restaurants, coffee huts, baking workshops, book bars, post stations, village history museums... with Huizhou architectural style. It has become an ecological and cultural street with flowing water. Imagine taking a flat boat and slowly moving forward on the small river, as if walking into the 'Peach Blossom Spring' in Tao Yuanming's pen. Mudu Village Farmhouse Fun.