Shanghai Zhu Jia Jiao – The Ancient River Town

Thanks to the extended holiday brought by Qu Yuan, on the Dragon Boat Festival I took an hour bus trip to this tourist site in rural Shanghai – Zhu Jia Jiao. For those who don’t know the story of Dragon Boat Festival, there was once a great poet and Politian Qu Yuan, who jumped into the river out of despair for his empire. People then mourned his death by throwing glutinous rice wrapped with reed leaves, known as Zongzi, into the river, hoping to prevent animals from eating his body. These Zongzi became a cultural festival food, and can be found everywhere in this ancient river town. Zhu Jia Jiao is an ancient town along a river, with historic Chinese houses, stores, and bridges.

I can imagine how this town had been hundreds of thousands of years ago, just like the daily life illustrated in the famous Chinese painting “Along the River During the Qingming Festival” (清明上河圖). But looking from one of the 36 bridges today, it feels nostalgia to see the same view, except that regular residents are replaced by tourists and business people. On the narrow streets you can still find elders dressed in traditional costume, selling cultural food made in the old fashioned way. Namely, the famous stinky Tofu that you can trace from far far away. Also, because of the special festival, there were people demonstrating the process of making Zongzi, and with the entrance ticket every visitor can experience making one Zongzi for free! Wrapping the ingredients with a reed leaf is truly a trained skill.

Tourism, beneficial for development, can be troublesome without proper management. The place is over crowded with business opportunities and the wastes and pollution (especially water) brought by them. Because of the business competitions, I felt like being in a tourist town instead of truly an ancient river town. I really hope they could retain the original cultural environment by better management, so tourists can experience the life of Chinese people thousands of years ago.