The ancient town of Qibao
In the outskirts of Shanghai is the little ancient town of Qibao 七宝镇. The name means "Town of Seven Treasures".
According to legend, the seven treasures are
- iron Buddha made in the Ming Dynasty
- a bronze bell that came out of nowhere
- Gold Script Lotus Sutra written by a 10th century concubine
- 1000-year-old catalpa tree
- jade axe
- gold cockerel
- jade chopsticks
The place has been inhabited for over 1000 years and is the only ancient town in central Shanghai. It's easy to get from downtown, just take the subway.
Differently from the Beijing hutongs, the small alleys in the ancient Shanghai area are two stories tall. Today, this street in Qibao is full of shops selling souvenirs and food to tourists.
Little girl struggles to eat a squid tentacle. Street food is one of the main attractions in Qibao.
One interesting xiaochi (snack) I had never seen are these eggs. There are hundreds of quail eggs piled up with some goose eggs in the middle and then cemented together with some kind of sugar or salt. They then heat it up from the bottom to cook it and break it open from the side and sell the individual eggs.
The Puhui river cuts the small town in half and is a big part of the attraction. Restaurants and teahouses are along the margins.
Some people still live in the ancient houses in the town. Qibao is also known to be the place where Zhang Chongren, the artist who inspired Chang Chong-Chen, character of the Adventures of Tintin.
The roofs of the buildings are unique to this region and distinct from those in Beijing and Xi'an. It's amazing you can tell apart each region by the architecture of the roofs.