Qipao Ancient Town Check-in Points Recommendation Travel Guide

Qipao Ancient Town is the only Song Dynasty ancient town in Shanghai, a well-known Jiangnan water town scenic spot. The buildings along the street are quite antique, and there are many delicious snacks waiting for you to discover. What are some of the most suitable check-in points to visit in Qipao Ancient Town? Let’s take a look!

Qipao Ancient Town, Han was Dingjiazhuang. In the early Song Dynasty, Qipao Temple moved in, and the land was named after the temple. The temple was originally Yun Jian Lubao Temple, and it got the golden lotus sutra from King Qian Liu of Wu Yue, and changed its name to Qipao Temple. Yuan Zhao Mengfu sighed as “the famous temple crowns the forest”. It is also said that it was named after the “Seven Treasures” of the golden lotus sutra, the divine tree, the floating bell, the flying Buddha, the golden rooster, the jade chopsticks, and the jade axe. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was famous for its cloth, yarn, woodworking, wine, and water transportation in the San Tiao Jiu Feng, Huangpu Wusong two rivers.

Touring the Ancient Town · Check-in Points Bell Tower

Qipao Bell Tower is located in the Bell Tower Square, it is the landmark building of Qipao Ancient Town. The legendary one of the Seven Treasures – the floating bell is hidden here. The floating bell is a genuine relic, it was cast in the seventh year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, it has a history of more than 600 years, the bell is 1.9 meters high, 1 meter in diameter, 9 centimeters thick, and weighs one ton. Striking the bell has the meaning of clearing troubles, increasing wisdom, and protecting peace in Buddhism. Every year on New Year’s Eve to usher in the new year, the bell sounds across the four directions, praying for blessings for the people of Qipao.

Address: Bell Tower Square, Qingnian Road, Minhang District

Opening hours: 9:00-18:00

Cotton Weaving Workshop

In ancient times, Qipao belonged to Songjiang Prefecture, it prospered due to the development of cotton textile industry, it was the main distribution center for “clothing the world”, Qipao Cotton Weaving Workshop is the humanistic history exhibition hall of cotton weaving craft. The exhibition hall takes “humanistic feelings, clothing the world” as the theme, from four aspects of potential (development), people (protagonists), objects (products), and words (culture), it uses a new perspective to concentrate on displaying the development history of Qipao cotton textile industry, completely showing the planting technology and textile craft of cotton textile industry, focusing on introducing the characteristic cotton fabrics of Qipao – Xibu (namely “Qipao sharp”), as well as the soul character of Qipao development – Huang Daopo. Qipao Cotton Weaving Workshop combines historical documents, using objects, images, pictures and texts to vividly reproduce the glorious history of Song County cotton cloth and clothing the world, recording the immortal prosperity of ancient Qipao cotton textile industry.

Address: No. 43, Beida Street, Minhang District

Opening hours: 9:00-18:00

Shanghai Qipao Art Museum

Shanghai Qipao Art Museum, also known as Qipao Calligraphy Art Museum, was completed in October 2009 in the heart of Qipao Ancient Town. The museum houses the most representative and influential calligraphy works of the “Haipai” calligraphy since the founding of the country, and calligraphy works of some authors of “China’s Calligraphy Township – Qipao”. At present, this calligraphy museum, with a display line of over 200 meters, exhibits most of the outstanding works of “Shanghai Calligraphy Exhibition to Beijing”.

Address: No. 44, Fuqiang Street, Minhang District

Opening hours: 9:00-18:00

Qipao Old Pawnshop

In the Qing Dynasty, there were pawnshops on Fuqiang Street, so Fuqiang Street was formerly known as Diandang Street, which was quite large and became an important place for financial activities in Song County. It was once famous for pawning twelve pairs of purple gold lions from Zhejiang merchants. During the Anti-Japanese War, it was destroyed by Japanese bombs, and its ruins were later known as Diandang Field. Now, a traditional pawnshop simulation scenic spot is built on the original site of Diandang Field, covering an area of about 100 square meters, with antique furnishings such as pawnshop cabinets, running boards, account books, and other items. Qipao pawnshop simulates the operation of ancient pawnshops, with the intention of showing the commercial cultural style of ancient Qipao, and also carries out real estate like second-hand goods adjustment operations, such as consignment or sales.

Address: No. 64, Fuqiang Street, Minhang District

Opening hours: 9:00-17:00

Zhang Chongren Memorial Hall

Mr. Zhang Chongren was born in Qipao in 1907. He is one of the founders of modern sculpture art in China, and once collaborated with Belgian cartoonist Hergé to draw “The Blue Lotus”, which caused a sensation in Europe. He returned to China after finishing his studies, and his artistic masterpieces have emerged, attracting attention both at home and abroad, and his outstanding achievements have made him an outstanding painter and a world-class sculpture master. A memorial hall was built to commemorate him. The hall is divided into four exhibition areas: “Preface Hall”, “Fame in Europe”, “Studio Spring and Autumn”, and “Sculpture Master”, displaying Zhang Chongren’s sculptures, paintings, objects, and related books, newspapers, and photos, showing Zhang Chongren’s life and artistic achievements.

Address: No. 75, Beixi Street, Minhang District

Opening hours: 9:00-16:00

Qipao Shadow Puppet Art Museum

Qipao Shadow Puppet Art Museum is a comprehensive art museum integrating exhibition, production, performance, research, and collection of Qipao shadow puppet art. Qipao shadow puppet mainly uses color painting, so it looks clear and bright, the shape is exaggerated and vivid, and it has a strong decorative effect.

Address: No. 95, Beixi Street, Minhang District

Opening hours: 9:00-17:00

Cricket Grass Hall

Cricket Grass Hall is composed of a front hall garden and a back hall main fighting stage. It is a Ming and Qing Dynasty building that combines cricket fighting and the display of ancient and modern insect tools. It has a history of more than 100 years. The museum inside the Grass Hall displays cricket pots, bamboo tubes, cricket tearing grass, and cricket specimens of various sizes. The front hall mainly undertakes the function of cultural display, including the introduction of the historical origin, development process, and relevant figures of the entertainment activity of fighting crickets; the back hall displays old objects such as cricket jars and cricket boxes, and adds electronic touch screens and video projection equipment that can be touched and visualized, allowing tourists to vividly understand the culture of fighting crickets.

Address: No. 37, Fuqiang Street, Minhang District

Opening hours: 9:00-18:00 pictures

Touring the Ancient Town · Tasting Delicacies Qipao Old Street Tangyuan Shop

Address: No. 26, Nandajie, Qipao Ancient Town

Business hours: 6:30-21:30

Features: Tangyuan

Qipao Lane

Address: No. 15-2, Beidongjie Beida Street, Qipao Ancient Town

Business hours: All day

Features: Various characteristic snacks

Touring the Ancient Town · Knowing Intangible Cultural Heritage Qipao Shadow Puppet Play

Qipao shadow puppet has a history of over 100 years, and has seven generations of inheritors so far. It is a major school of Jiangnan shadow puppet, integrating local folk opera, folk art, folk craft, folk music and local dialect. Qipao shadow puppet is one of the first batch of intangible cultural heritage in Shanghai, it is an extension of Zhejiang shadow puppet, the birthplace of Haipai shadow puppet is Qipao. Qipao shadow puppet mainly uses color painting, so it looks clear and bright, the shape is exaggerated and vivid, and it has a strong decorative effect. Shadow puppet props have a rich background, and have a strong national style and folk customs. Shadow puppet drama repertoire is mainly based on historical and traditional themes, such as “The Investiture of the Gods”, “Journey to the West”, “The Romance of Sui and Tang Dynasties”, “Yue Biography”, “Yang Family General”, etc., it can also perform fairy tales, fables and other stories. In 2007, Qipao shadow puppet play was included in the first batch of Shanghai Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage List by the Municipal Government.