Shanghai’s Sheshan: A Weekend Getaway to Discover Shanghai’s Roots
Prologue: Come to Sheshan and Embrace Shanghai's Thousand-Year History
Often, when walking through Jiangsu and Zhejiang, you will unconsciously forget the bustling city around you and slowly immerse yourself in a nostalgic journey. The Jiangnan region is known for its small bridges, flowing waters, and numerous gardens. Although each scene has its own charm, you can always find a similar feeling in different cities and places. Shanghai has always been an international metropolis, with skyscrapers and bustling traffic. Standing at a busy intersection, all you see is steel and concrete. Many say it’s now very difficult to find traces of old Shanghai here. Today, many landscapes have been squeezed into the city’s crevices, but if you search and discover with care, you will always find some dusty clues. A flower is a world, a tree is a bodhi. The scenery in everyone’s eyes is different, but if you, like me, want to trace history and see a Shanghai that is completely different from the common view, perhaps you should come to Sheshan.
If you want to trace Shanghai’s history, then the Guangfulin Relics Park in Sheshan is definitely the first must-visit stop. As is well known, Songjiang is the birthplace of Shanghai’s history and culture. As the local saying goes, ‘First there was Songjiang Prefecture, then came Shanghai Bund; first there was Guangfulin, then came Songjiang’s history.’
Songjiang was anciently called Yunjian, and the people praise Guangfulin as the ‘First Town North of Yunjian’. It has typical remains of the Liangzhu Culture, and because of it, the history of urban settlements in Shanghai was rewritten, making it an important part of Shanghai’s historical and cultural origins.
Walking into the Guangfulin Cultural Relics Park is like stepping into a treasured land steeped in thousands of years of history. It’s a perfect place for taking photos in traditional costume, with winding bluestone paths, white-walled and grey-tiled Huizhou-style courtyards, serene and secluded. On a rainy day, Guangfulin has an especially unique charm.
The cultural layers of the Guangfulin site are divided into three: the upper layer is the Wuyue Culture of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the middle layer is the Maqiao Culture of the Xia and Shang dynasties, and the lower layer is the Neolithic Liangzhu Culture. It proves to the world that thousands of years ago, ‘Shanghai people’ were already living on this land.
Looking up, the Fulin Screen Wall is quaint and elegant. This is not only a place to trace your roots but also a great spot for a weekend leisure getaway. It’s only a little over an hour’s drive from the city center, yet you can easily spend a whole day exploring Guangfulin.
Currently, the Guangfulin site mainly includes the Guangfulin Cultural Exhibition Hall, Ancient Pottery Art Museum, Chen Zilong Memorial Hall, Fulin Yinji (Fulin Imprint), Fulin Gate, Sanyuan Palace, Zhiye Chan Temple, Wood Art Exhibition Hall, Fulin Screen Wall, and more. The entrance fee is 40 yuan, quite affordable.
Sanyuan Palace is dedicated to Yao, Shun, and Yu, anciently called the Officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water. To pray for favorable weather and bountiful harvests in Guangfulin, locals commonly call it the ‘Sanguantang’ (Three Officials Hall).
Zhiye Chan Temple is a very ancient Chan temple. Legend has it that a Tang-dynasty eminent monk traveled to Songjiang and spent ten years collecting alms to build it. Today, the temple has been rebuilt to commemorate the local legend of Zen Master Zhiye, who provided free medical treatment to save people.
The Fulin Pagoda stands between Zhiye Chan Temple and Sanyuan Palace. Beneath it is the entrance to the Ancient Pottery Art Museum, where many national-treasure-level ceramics unearthed in Guangfulin are on display. Unfortunately, the Ancient Pottery Museum was not open to the public during this visit; I’ll have to make up for that next time.
The Jixian Garden features a cluster of modern Huizhou-style buildings, collected from the Anhui-Zhejiang region, mainly to commemorate notable historical figures from Songjiang. Walking here amid grey tiles and white walls, an air of simple elegance slows down time without you noticing.
People often say that Shanghai was just a small fishing village a hundred years ago, but the excavation of the Guangfulin site in Songjiang pushes that history back five thousand years at once. It turns out that the Guangfulin Culture is a branch of the Liangzhu Culture, truly the root of Shanghai and the origin of the Shanghai-style culture.
The Guangfulin Relics Park consists of six halls, and the one that attracted me most is the Guangfulin Shanghai Roots Culture Hall. It not only introduces the Songze Culture, Liangzhu Culture, Maqiao Culture, and Guangfulin Culture, but also vividly showcases the origins of Shanghai culture.
About six thousand years ago during the Neolithic Age, ancient people lived and thrived in the Guangfulin area. In the 1950s and 1960s, the excavation of the Guangfulin site brought the Guangfulin Culture, buried for about four thousand years, back to light.
The Songze Culture dates to approx. 6000-5300 years ago, a transitional stage from matriarchal to patriarchal society in the Neolithic period, linking to the Liangzhu Culture. It is an important cultural phase in the lower Yangtze and Taihu Lake region.
The representative site of Liangzhu Culture is the Liangzhu site, about five thousand years old. The core area of Liangzhu Culture lies in the Qiantang River basin and the Taihu Lake basin, with the most dense cluster of sites in the northeastern and eastern parts of the Qiantang River basin. The Guangfulin cultural site is earlier than the Maqiao site but slightly later than the middle layer of the Songze Culture site, and is a remnant of the Liangzhu Culture.
In the ‘Ancient Imprints’ exhibition area, I learned that Shanghai is a coastal alluvial plain at the continental margin. Today’s Songjiang, with its nine peaks including Sheshan, Tianma Mountain, and Xiaoni Mountain, are offshoots of the Tianmu Mountain range extending from Zhejiang, forming the skeleton of Shanghai’s alluvial plain.
From then on, the coastline emerged, the indigenous people’s lives improved, and they established homes. At that time, the ancestors used pigs and deer as sources of meat, and the villages took on a decent appearance.
After that, the ancient Guangfulin underwent millennia of change, gradually transforming from a primitive village into a bustling ancient town.
From the Qin Dynasty to the Southern Dynasties' Liang period, this area saw the establishment of Haiyan, Qianjing, and Xupu counties, but all were abandoned due to poor location and environmental changes. In the tenth year of the Tang Tianbao era, a stable county town emerged: Huating County.
In 1277, Huating County was upgraded to a prefecture, renamed Songjiang Prefecture the following year. During the Qing Dynasty, the rise of commerce, handicrafts, and literature brought different cultures into mutual influence and integration, stabilizing the city and rapidly developing its economy, gradually shaping the inclusive and all-embracing character of Shanghai-style culture.
The Gu family’s textile embroidery from Songjiang Prefecture recreates the unprecedented prosperity of the cotton textile industry back then. The influx of Western products like Maochang optical shops and watch stores also blended Chinese and Western cultures here.
The establishment of Shanghai’s first post office and railway station further facilitated ancient Songjiang’s trade and cultural exchange with the outside world. In 1912, the Republican government abolished Songjiang Prefecture and established Shanghai City within Shanghai County.
From then on, a prosperous and rich Shanghai-style culture took root, sprouted, and flourished on this new land, forming the distinctive local culture that Shanghai would be known for.
Inside the Guangfulin Cultural Relics Park in Shanghai’s Songjiang, there is a very well-preserved Huizhou-style building called ‘Ming Dynasty Mansion.’ After careful redesign, it has been transformed into ‘Duoyun Academy’, becoming a new social media-famous cultural landmark in Shanghai.
The academy is symmetrical along a central axis, three bays wide, with a main hall in the center and rooms on both sides. The building reflects traditional Han culture, with a wooden structure as the main body, rigorous in composition, making it a great photo spot.
The academy is open to the public for free visits, but photography is allowed only with mobile phones, not DSLR cameras. On the first floor, you can see themed retail areas, a courtyard landscape area, a tea-tasting and relaxation zone, and a cultural creative area. The books on the shelves mainly cover history, calligraphy and painting, ancient texts, and more.
On the second floor, there are activity areas for book clubs and reading promotion events. This spatial arrangement gives one the delightful experience of ‘sipping tea among the rosy clouds, then returning to the academy amidst the clouds.’
Of course, the cultural creative products and drinks here are also very appealing. You can order a cup of tea, pick a book you like, and spend a lovely afternoon just like that.
Within the Guangfulin site, besides the ‘Shanghai Roots’ Culture Hall, there are many other exhibition halls worth visiting. The Wood Art Exhibition Hall is one not to be missed.
The Wood Art Exhibition Hall is a Huizhou-style building housing around 300 exquisite wood carvings, most of which were removed from Ming and Qing residences and ancient buildings. The carvings feature historical figures, stories from novels and operas, and auspicious motifs, all exceptionally fine.
Huizhou architectural wood carvings represent the pinnacle of woodcarving in the Jiangnan region during the Ming and Qing dynasties. These exquisite works have been approved by the State Council and listed in the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage.
As you walk and look, you’ll find that the hall collects beams, bracket arms, architraves, doors, windows, and various types of classical Chinese furniture—each piece a rare treasure worth savoring slowly.
Sheshan National Forest Park is a national-level forest park, reputed as ‘the root of Shanghai, a paradise beyond the mundane.’ It encompasses 12 peaks including East Sheshan, West Sheshan, Tianma Mountain, Phoenix Mountain, and Xiaokun Mountain.
On rainy days, the forest park sees few visitors, which is a different vibe I like. Opening an umbrella and slowly climbing the stone steps, the environment is serene and perfect for a relaxing escape.
The forest park is actually quite large, but due to the weather, I only walked a short stretch. Along the way, under the eaves, I came across a cat dozing off, not shy at all, sleeping soundly to the rain—super cute.
There is a Catholic church built in the 13th year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty, known as the ‘First Church in the Far East,’ a landmark of Sheshan. I had wanted to visit it, but unfortunately, it is currently temporarily closed.
The observatory is also east of the Catholic church, built in the 25th year of the Guangxu reign. After liberation, it came under the Purple Mountain Observatory. It houses the largest optical telescope designed and manufactured in China, as well as a 25-meter radio telescope, making it one of China’s largest astronomical observation bases.
1. Transportation
Sheshan is located in Songjiang District, Shanghai, divided into West Sheshan and East Sheshan, and is often called Greater Shanghai’s backyard garden. You can get from downtown Shanghai to Sheshan by public transport or by car. Public Transport: Route 1: From Shanghai city center, take Metro Line 9 to Sheshan Station, then transfer to bus Hu-Chen Line or Songjiang Bus 92 to reach Sheshan Forest Park, with attractions including the Sheshan Observatory, Our Lady’s Cathedral, and Forest Hotel. Route 2: At the entrance of Sheshan Forest Park, there are also buses 194, Songjiang 33, Songqing Line, Nanqing Special Line, Shiqing Special Line, etc. Route 3: From the city center, you can take the Hu-Chen Line directly. Driving route: Shanghai city center – Yan’an Elevated Road – G50 Huyu Expressway – Zhaoxiang Exit (turn left) – Jiasong Middle Road/South Road – (turn right) Shenzhuan Highway – (turn right) Waiqingsong Highway, arriving at the forest park, observatory, and Sheshan town area.
2. Accommodation
When you come to Sheshan, you must stay at the Forest Hotel. Far from the noisy city, it lets you return to tranquil nature. The Forest Hotel is situated at the southwestern foot of the national forest park, with European-style villas nestled among the lush mountains—scenic and endlessly picturesque. Arriving, you’ll find the entire hotel embraced by forested hills, with a spacious parking lot in front. The Forest Hotel was originally built in 1995 and underwent a full renovation in 2015. Currently, it has 10 villas, complete with guest rooms, suites, deluxe suites, a conference center, and more. On rainy days, bamboo shadows sway; strolling through is especially charming. I thought it was just a hotel, but the grounds are so large it feels like walking through a park, with fresh greenery everywhere. To give guests a better experience, wooden boardwalks, rest pavilions, and rocking chairs were built between the European-style villas, surrounded by bamboo groves, reminding one of Su Dongpo’s line: ‘I would rather eat without meat than live without bamboo.’ My room was ocean-themed, with a blue color scheme—perfect for a Pisces like me. The room was warmly decorated, with fine linens and amenities, and I slept soundly through the night. If you’re a family with children, there is also a dedicated play area for kids. You won’t have to worry about them fussing—this place will surely soothe them. With cute rocking chairs and a slide, even an adult like me couldn’t resist having a go and playing for a while. In short, the Forest Hotel has bamboo groves above, towering ancient trees below, gurgling waterfalls, and chirping birds—you certainly won’t be disappointed if you come here.
3. Notes
Traveling during a special period: 1. When visiting Sheshan attractions in Shanghai from non-key epidemic areas, you need to present your local health code and have your temperature taken before entry. 2. During your trip, you still need to wear a mask when entering public places; the hotel will also take guests’ temperatures and disinfect rooms. 3. For personal epidemic prevention, remember to bring extra masks, disinfecting wipes, and hand sanitizer. Cooperate with temperature checks in public places. When sightseeing, note: 1. Bring an umbrella and raincoat because the weather is unpredictable. It may suddenly change, so it’s best to have them just in case. 2. Currently, Sheshan Catholic Church and the Guangfulin Ancient Pottery Museum are not open; check real-time information on attractions before going. 3. Drive safely, the road conditions are good, but with recent rain there might be traffic jams—remember to set off early.
