Shanghai County has a history of seven hundred years, but Minhang is more than just Maqiao culture!

Maqiao culture dates back to 3900-3200 years ago, it is an early Bronze Age culture in the Yangtze River Delta region, and an important source of Wu Yue culture, corresponding to the Xia and Shang periods in the Central Plains. Shanghai was formerly known as Huating Hai, also called Shangyang or Sea on the Sea. In 751, Huating County was established during the Tang Dynasty, and by the Northern Song Dynasty, Shanghai had its own bureau for managing liquor taxes. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Shanghai Town was established along with its maritime trade office. In the twenty-ninth year of the Yuan Dynasty's Zhiyuan era (1292), Shanghai became a county under the jurisdiction of Songjiang Prefecture, serving as a base for grain transportation. By the 16th century, Shanghai County had become the largest cotton textile center in the country. In 1554, Shanghai County built city walls for defense, and the county seat was thereafter known as 'Old City'. In 1928, the Shanghai Special Municipality was established, and Shanghai County became a suburban county, later becoming a production base for agricultural and sideline products and an industrial satellite city for Shanghai. The prosperity of Shanghai during the Qing Dynasty relied on the enduring sand boat industry, with sand boats having a low bow and high stern on the water. After the maritime ban was lifted, Shanghai quickly became an important distribution center for goods from the north, south, and abroad, as well as a major national trading port. Shanghai, where people from all directions gathered and merchants flocked, thus expanded and prospered. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Shanghai mainly served as a transit port for Suzhou, exporting cotton cloth and cotton to all parts of the country, especially the north, and importing soybeans, soybean cakes, and soybean oil from the north. In 1843, Shanghai opened its port, and with the eastward spread of Western influence, factories, banks, schools, and bookstores emerged one after another. Qibao area spanned both Huating and Shanghai counties and was a natural water and land wharf. At the end of the Yuan and the beginning of the Ming dynasties, Qibao Town became famous for the convergence of five teachings. During the Jiajing and Wanli periods of the Ming Dynasty, Qibao Town thrived increasingly due to cotton trade and the strategic location on the grain transportation route. Minhang Old Town is located in the ancient Ganghai region, free from the troubles of drought and flood, and is a strategic thoroughfare, hence the proverb 'Three generations repair to live, home is in front of Minhang'. Wuhui Town is now in Wuhui Village, Maqiao Township, commonly known as Wuhui Street. Due to its proximity to the Huangpu River mouth and the convergence of various waters, it was called Wuhui. Later generations, inspired by the phrase 'pointing to Wuhui in the clouds', changed the name to Wuhui. There is a local saying, 'Wuhui existed before Maqiao'. During the Song Dynasty, a liquor warehouse was established in Wuhui. After the Zhi Zheng era of the Yuan Dynasty, the Shanghai County Zoucheng Inspection Office was set up here, and it was as famous as the towns of Wunijing and Qinglong at that time. During the Hongzhi period of the Ming Dynasty, it was called Wuhui Town, which was destroyed during the Jiajing period due to Japanese pirates. In the Tongzhi era of the Qing Dynasty, it was called Wuhui Market, which had declined by then, except for the bustling temple fair at Jingtusi on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth lunar month.