Strolling around Jiading
The so-called 'A Fahua Tower, half of Jiading's history.' Therefore, the story of Jiading should start from here.
This year is the 30th anniversary of Jiading's county-to-district transformation, and the Fahua Tower, which has a history of over 800 years, has just been renovated and is brand new.
The history of the Fahua Tower is even older than the history of Jiading City.
It was built during the Kaiji period of the Song Dynasty and witnessed the great changes in Jiading over the long history.
The Fahua Tower, also known as the 'Wenfeng Tower' and 'Wenbi Tower', is a landmark building in the old city of Jiading. The Lianqi and Hengli rivers converge here, carrying the cultural pulse of Jiading from ancient times. After the tower was built, the 'education of Jiading' gradually formed.
Among the many ancient streets in Shanghai's water towns, the Zhouqiao Old Street in Jiading District may be an inconspicuous place. Although the traces left by this 800-year-old Jiangnan ancient city to the world are not many, its one tower, two rivers, three streets, and four bridges are still amazing.
The one tower is the Fahua Tower; the two rivers refer to the north-south Hengli River and the east-west Lianqi River; the three streets are Nan Dajie, Chengzhong Street, and Xia Tang Street; the four bridges are Jichuan Bridge, Baoqing Bridge, Defu Bridge, and Zhou Bridge.
The Zhou Bridge, named the Dragon Ascending Bridge, was built in 1245. It is a single-arch stone bridge that spans the Lianqi River. It runs from north to south, with 13 steps on the stone bridge surface from north to south. It was rebuilt in 1998. Historical records say that during the Yuan Dynasty, Jiading was promoted from a county to a state, so some people renamed the Dragon Ascending Bridge as 'Zhou Bridge', and the name of Zhou Bridge originated from this.
Zhouqiao Old Street is the root of Jiading. Since it was established as the county center in 1218, it has been the birthplace of Jiading's historical culture for 800 years. Within this thousand steps, it has gathered ancient towers, stone streets, old bridges, old temples, famous gardens and other relics from the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. The culture is vast and the heritage is profound.
The Jiabei Suburban Park is located in the northwest of Jiading New City, Shanghai, with a planned area of 13.98 square kilometers and an opening area of 7.39 square kilometers in the first phase. The park has 4,500 acres of rice fields, 80 acres of colored rice fields, 90 acres of Lei bamboo shoots forest, 65 acres of lavender, as well as vineyards, kiwi fruit gardens and themed activity forests in the park. There are also Wujue Avenue, Fengxiang Avenue, Fir Tree Avenue, Wisteria Corridor, 6 kilometers of walking paths, 8 kilometers of battery car tour roads, etc., which are connected together, with roads, corridors, and roads interconnected. There are 22 kilometers of rivers in Jiabei Suburb, and 19 bridges have been built on the river - 18 stone bridges and 1 rainbow wooden structure bridge.
Jiading District, Shanghai