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Jinze Town, Qingpu District, Shanghai, China
A easily-reached ancient town near Shanghai
Jinze Ancient Town locates in Qingpu District, Shanghai, is a peaceful ancient town with a history of over 1,300 years. It renowned for its crisscross waterways, but mostly for its bridges, not on the number but for time-honored bridges with different shapes and varied usage, thus it is entitled the “No.1 Bridge Town” of the southern Yangtze area. Differ with other water towns, it is a town with a little more dignity but less delicacy.
Jinze is a very small town that covers an area of no more than 0.6 square km, but within this area, there are more than 10 ancient bridges have been well preserved through the ages. Most of them have gone through the baptism of several dynasties, the longest history of which can be dated back to Song Dynasty (960-1279).
Besides, each bridge in this town, will be connected with a temple. It’s said that, during the Three Kingdoms period, the General of Eastern Wu Kingdom led an army here for defending. As the land was crisscrossed by channels and waterways, he ordered his soldiers to build bridges and set up temples on one end of each bridge to pray for safe and peace.
Ancient Bridge Museum
At the Jinze Ancient Town, there are ancient bridges of Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. It is called the ancient bridge museum. Strolling around the old street of Jinze Ancient Town, you can see 7 ancient bridges of 4 dynasties(Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing). At the Jinze Ancient Town, you can fully experience the charm of water towns of Jiangnan(south of the Yangtze River).
Convenient Transportation
Jinze Ancient Town is just located near Shanghai with convenient transportation.
Less Commercialization
Jinze Ancient Town is not large, and less crowds make it silent and less commercialized. You can stroll around the Jinze Ancient Town slowly with the peaceful atmosphere.
Bridges
Jinze is known for its bridges. They are Puji Bridge, Wangan Bridge, Yingxiang Bridge, Animal Freeing Bridge, Ruyi Bridge, Linlao Bridge, and Tianwuge Bridge.
Among all the bridges, the oldest Puji Bridge is the one you could not miss. Puji Bridge is a typical arched single-hole stone bridge which was first built in 1267 of the Song Dynasty then been repaired in 1723 of the Qing Dynasty. This bridge stretches 27 meters, arch tracked 10.5 meters but with gentle slope. Due to the limited mining technology at that time, the whole bridge is made of purple ore, thus the body of the bridge shows a purple-puce color.
200 meters away from the Puji Bridge, Yingxiang Bridge is also a famous site, especially at night, its fine body along with the watery moon reflection, forming a wonderful scene which is one of the Top8 scenes in Jinze.
Ruyi Bridge was built in the Qing Dynasty. It is the best preserved bridge. It is 50 meters south of Animal Freeing Bridge.
Puji Bridge
Yi Hao Temple
This temple was originally built in 1260 during South Song Dynasty. Then it suffered from wars and turbulences for many times. It was rebuilt in 1906 during Qing Dynasty for the first time, but it was destroyed again in Sino-Japanese War. Then it was restored in 1992.
With less crowds and silent atmosphere, you can experience the slow-paced life of local people in Shanghai here. At the Jinze Ancient Town, you can stroll around the ancient bridges and streets slowly.
At Jinze Ancient Town, you can taste the local shao-mai(traditional Chinese dimsum), which are handmade by local people. And you can also taste other local snacks. Most of the foods at Jinze Ancient Town are with competitive price. While strolling around the Jinze Ancient Town, you can stop to taste the foods and snacks you are interested in.
Taking the boat is another way to explore the Jinze Ancient Town. Taking the boat at the Jinze Ancient Town, you can admire the ancient bridges here with another perspective. Also, boating at the Jinze Ancient Town is a good way to experience the life of the local people in the past. You can slowly enjoy the houses of water town in Jiangnan.
Recommended Route: Puji Bridge-Fangsheng Bridge-Ruyi Bridge-Yingxiang Bridge-Tianwangge Bridge-Wan’an Bridge-Yihao Temple
The best time to visit Jinze Ancient Town is spring and autumn. In spring, the weather is warm and Jinze Ancient Town is beautiful with lush trees, colorful flowers and houses with black tile and white walls. You can enjoy the sunrise or sunset at the Jinze Ancient Town. At Jinze Ancient Town, you can enjoy the silent atmosphere and the feel the charm of the water town of Jiangnan(south of the Yangtze River). Autumn is also a good time to visit Jinze Ancient Town. In autumn, the ginkgo tree at the Yihao Temple will be golden, which makes the temple and ancient town more beautiful. The golden ginkgo tree leaves, ancient bridges, black tile and white walls compose of a beautiful picture of Jinze Ancient Town.
Subway: You can take the Metro Line 17 to get to the Dongfang Lvzhou Station, then take the bus to the Jinze Bus Station.
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