Comprehensive Travel Guide to Songjiang District, Shanghai

Duration: 2 days Time: June Cost per person: 1000 yuan With whom: With friends Activities: Gourmet, Photography, Self-driving, Cultural, Free travel, Weekend getaway Author visited these places: Songjiang Zui Bai Pond, Sheshan National Forest Park, Shanghai Happy Valley, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, Tianma Mountain, Sheshan Observatory, Xiudao Zhe Tower, Songjiang Central Park Published on 2020-06-10 13:44 About this trip I have recently become particularly fond of Shanghai’s history and culture, and have written about the historical and cultural architecture of Shanghai. As a native Shanghainese, I found that after passing the age of thirty, I started to feel a bit nostalgic. I realized that I love the old Shanghai memories and the influence of these old cultures on this modern city more than I thought. For many tourists who come to Shanghai, I hope you don’t just treat Shanghai as a fashionable metropolis to visit, but also understand the stories behind these Haipai cultures. This trip is not only a journey through time and space but also a detailed travel guide to Songjiang District. Songjiang District is not in the urban area of Shanghai, but it has a unique location. As the birthplace of Shanghai’s history and culture, its history is more ancient than those in the urban area of Shanghai. Itinerary landmarks 1. Guangfulin Cultural Site 2. Yunjian Granary 3. Zui Bai Pond 4. Sheshan National Forest Park 5. Shanghai Happy Valley 6. Blue Elf Paradise 7. Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden Accommodation 1. Songjiang Kaiyuan Mingdu Hotel Catering 1. Forest Hotel 2. Xiaoyeshu Guangfulin Cultural Site Guangfulin can be said to be the earliest memory of Shanghai in history in a true sense. The cultural site has been open for only two years, but it has already gained a reputation. Almost every Shanghainese knows about it, but I have never had time to visit until now. I finally had the opportunity to see it for myself. After applying, I was allowed to take aerial photos here, a place of special significance to Shanghainese. (Aerial photography must be approved by the scenic spot) The main attraction here is to visit the underwater museum, which is built 4-5 meters underwater. Due to the epidemic, it had not been open to the public before and just reopened at the end of May. For visitors, there is a feeling of walking through time and space, stepping underground, and walking into ancient times, so it is a must-see. The entrance is designed in the shape of dense tree roots, implying that this is the ‘root of Shanghai’. Through archaeological memories, the evolution of Shanghai’s land formation, the period of primitive inhabitants, the prosperity of Songjiang Prefecture, and the period of the Republic of China in Shanghai, etc., the story is reenacted in a readable way. During the primitive period of Songjiang, humans were very wise. Houses were built next to trees because the ground was damp, and there was an empty space at the bottom. It is said that the space was previously used for raising pigs. The wild pigs in the past were very small and lived under the houses.
There is also a simulated stable, which is now the area for queuing. During the Ming Dynasty, the textile industry in Songjiang was very prosperous, with Gu Embroidery and Huang Daopo being very famous at the time. The Songjiang Railway Station from that era is still in use, operating on the section from Songjiang to Qingpu, with a scene that looks somewhat like the one at the Chedun Film and Television Base. There are also some scenes that our parents might not have seen, such as tiger stoves, storybooks, which are quite interesting. The stone pagoda painted on the wall is called the Dharani Sutra Stone Pillar, which is the oldest existing structure on the ground in Shanghai (859 AD), a Buddhist building from the Tang Dynasty, located inside Zhongshan Primary School in Songjiang. Duoyun Academy is located within the Guangfulin Cultural Relics, a place very popular with literary and artistic youth. The entire academy is built inside a well-preserved Hui-style architectural mansion with two landscape courtyards, one with a cloud-shaped decorative pool and the other with a pine tree courtyard design, each with different artistic conceptions. The first floor is now open for visits, while the second floor is not, with the first floor mainly serving as a café and cultural and creative bookstore. The treasure of the store is the collection of ancient books in the glass display cabinet, and the books are focused on historical, calligraphy, painting, and Songjiang humanistic content. If you order a cup of coffee here, you can pick up a book and sit in the store for an afternoon. In front of the exit of the underwater museum, there is a building called ‘Fulin Tea Pavilion’, which is a convenience for the public. I recommend the grapefruit lactobacillus to everyone. Address: Guangfulin Road, Lane 3260, Admission: 40 yuan, Time: 09:00-17:00. Songjiang used to have many names, such as Rongcheng and Huating, and ‘Yunjian’ is another name for Songjiang. The granary, built from the 1950s to the 1990s, consists of 59 grain warehouses, witnessing the evolution of the grain industry in Songjiang since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Some of the warehouses are still under renovation, and the ones that are open to visitors include the Yunjian Art Museum and the Beer Culture Museum. Friends who are interested can take a look, and there are several granaries that should have just finished their previous exhibition. The distance between the warehouses is very wide, and they are neatly arranged in a large scale. In the middle of the road, there is a large piece of machinery and a conical barrel, which should have been preserved from before. I found that an ancient characteristic of granaries is that they are all located near waterways, perhaps for transportation convenience. As soon as you enter the granary, you can see eight large silos (the former site of Songjiang Flour Factory), with a mottled exterior, a bit of a decadent taste, and the brick walls of the unrenovated granaries, and green wooden beam supports, which are very suitable for portrait photography in the eyes of photographers. The more gorgeous and cool you dress, the greater the contrast and the better the effect.

When it comes to Songjiang, which is closely related to the deer culture, there is a mural on a wall depicting a legend from the Qing Guangxu period that nine out of ten deer will return to their homeland. Address: 327 Songhui East Road, Free admission, Hours: Yunjian Art Gallery 9:30-16:30, closed on Mondays. A sudden heavy rain disrupted our early morning visit to Zui Bai Chi, forcing us to stroll around the pavilions and corridors with umbrellas. Zui Bai Chi is one of the five major gardens in Shanghai. Before visiting, I was pondering the origin of its name, which I later learned was inspired by a Qing dynasty painter from Songjiang who admired Bai Juyi and modeled his own ‘Zui Bai Hall’ after it. Zui Bai Chi is larger than I imagined, with stone paths and forest trails providing a refreshing coolness, making it a comfortable place to visit in summer. Not far along the path, we encountered a Jiangnan-style residence, adorned with carved flower designs upon entering, which is the Carving Hall. The lattice windows and door frames are all uniquely carved without repetition. The relief sculptures in the hall depict stories from the Three Kingdoms period. Walking towards the outer garden pond along the corridor, the lotus flowers are just beginning to bloom, and I believe the scenery will be even more beautiful when the pond is full of blooming lotuses, best appreciated from the Xiangzhen Pavilion. Even on a rainy day, many well-dressed Shanghai aunts gathered in the pavilion to discuss their performances. Exiting the corridor and walking towards the inner garden, after crossing a small bridge, one can see the large stone characters of the Zui Bai Chi Calligraphy Park, which marks the inner garden of Zui Bai Chi and the core of the entire scenic area. Entering this place feels like stepping into a wealthy household, centered around a pond with halls on all four sides. In the center of one hall stands a stone statue of Dong Qichang, while the surrounding rooms display works from primary and secondary school students in Songjiang. There are many stone carvings in Zui Bai Chi, totaling 30 pieces, all of which are cultural relics. The ‘Ten Deer Nine Return’ stone tablet of Songjiang is located here, although I forgot to take a photo, along with other stone carvings like the portraits of Yunjian Bangyan. It is said that some were damaged during the Cultural Revolution. Address: 64 Renmin South Road, Songjiang (Subway Line 9, Zui Bai Chi Station), Admission: 12 RMB, Hours: Outer garden opens at 6:00, inner garden at 7:00, lobby at 8:00, closes at 17:00. Sheshan National Forest Park is an important historical and cultural birthplace in the Shanghai area with a long history and a gathering of talents. As a child, people often joked and asked if there were mountains in Shanghai. The Jiufeng area in Songjiang is the only hilly region in Shanghai, including the well-known Sheshan, Tianma Mountain, Xiaokunshan, etc., with Sheshan being the most scenic among them.
For almost all those who attended primary school in Shanghai, spring outings and autumn outings would be held in Sheshan. In my childhood memories, I also visited the Sheshan Observatory. At that time, I really knew nothing about the starry sky. Now, revisiting the old place, it’s a pity that the observatory, museum, and church are all closed. Recommended walking route: Go directly up the mountain along the vehicle lane at the west gate to reach the observation deck, which can avoid the fatigue of climbing. Then, go down the mountain and visit the Sheshan Bell Tower and Xiudaozhe Pagoda along the way. Exit from the east gate. This downhill route is also relatively easy to walk. Shanghai is about to enter the plum rain season, and the mountain road in Sheshan is a little damp. The Sheshan Observatory is an important observation point for both Shanghai and China. News from the Sheshan Observatory can often be heard on the news. It should be noted that recently due to the epidemic, the observatory and church are still temporarily closed. So friends who are planning to go should pay attention to the latest news. Address: At the top of Sheshan Mountain. Ticket: Currently, the planetarium and church are not open yet. Entering Sheshan National Forest Park is free. Shanghai Happy Valley. Happy Valley is an amusement park under OCT. It is considered a leading brand among domestic amusement park brands. Shanghai Happy Valley has been open for nearly 11 years but still has a large number of tourists. Even on weekdays, popular projects still need to queue up. The entire park contains seven themed areas: Sunshine Harbor, Happy Time, Shanghai Beach, Shangri-La, Happy Ocean, Gold Mine Town, and Hurricane Bay. The classic project in Happy Valley is the roller coaster. There are all kinds of roller coasters here, some thrilling and exciting ones and some suitable for children. The most representative ones are the well-known wooden roller coaster; the 1,200-meter-long wooden roller coaster “Valley Wooden Dragon”, as well as the 60-meter-high bottomless roller coaster “Extreme Majesty”, and the fastest roller coaster “Blue Moon Speeder”. I heard that a star just named these to play when they came to film here a few days ago. Now, the popular projects Valley Wooden Dragon and Extreme Majesty have introduced a ticket collection machine system. You can collect tickets by face recognition. Come and play again according to the queuing time on the ticket. This greatly reduces the time wasted in queuing for playing. But don’t come again after exceeding the time limit. In this case, you need to take a new number. There are also many performances in the park. The recent bubble performance, the parrot performance in Shangri-La, and the sea lion performance in Happy Ocean. It is recommended to pay attention to the performance time first and arrange the playing order reasonably. In late June, this year’s Maya Water World will open. In the Happy Ocean area of Happy Valley, there is a dedicated connecting passage to the water world. It is recommended to play at two scenic spots together. Recently, a new popular small train sightseeing project has been added at the entrance. This small train circles the entire Happy Valley. It is recommended to buy an all-day ticket so that you can walk less, especially for those with children. The price is 30 yuan for adults and 15 yuan for children for the whole day, which is still relatively reasonable.
Happy Valley is always very attentive in activities. There are activities during summer vacations and holidays. There will be some garden parties and theme activities continuously. There is also a night show open. I think this is the correct way to open an amusement park that has been in business in Shanghai for 11 years. Address: No. 888 Linhu Road, Sheshan Town, Songjiang District (There is a connecting shuttle at Sheshan Station of Line 9). Ticket price: Currently, there is a two-entry ticket for 230 yuan. Time: In the recent two months, 09:30 – 18:00. For time changes, refer to the official website. Smurfs Park Shanghai Shimao Fairyland City Theme Park is next to the famous InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland in Sheshan. It is divided into two phases. The Smurfs Park is Phase II. It just opened at the end of May. It is an indoor amusement park. The Smurfs Park completely restores the animation scenes. Combined with the real-life immersive experience, the cartoon characters are made in 1:1 size of humans, giving us a feeling of being in the animation world. The park is divided into several different theme areas with different main scenes. Forest Area: Flowers, green plants, and small insects in the forest surround you, as if you were in a forest maze. Village Area: Mushroom houses of various shapes with lovely shapes are extremely attractive. Gargamel’s House: As a Smurf, I am ‘only as tall as three apples’. Coming to Gargamel’s house really scares me a bit! The surrounding environment and lights have darkened a lot, adding a sense of mystery and tension. Damao Area: This is an area composed of characters in the animation ‘Spirit King of Lingshi’. I haven’t watched it… My niece has watched it. Unexpectedly, the child even gave me a popular science about Damao, Taotao, Leihao and various adventure stories. The Damao Area is also rich in many educational meanings for parents and children and should not be missed! There will be a float parade in the Smurfs Park every day for an intimate interaction with tourists. The Smurfs, Smurfette, Papa Smurf, Gargamel, Azrael, etc. will all come out to greet the children and adults in the park. Address: No. 5088 Chenhua Road, Songjiang District, Shanghai. Time: 10:00 – 18:00. Ticket price: Free for those under 1.1 meters. Half price for those between 1.1 and 1.4 meters, which is 80 yuan. 160 yuan for adults. Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden. The Chenshan Botanical Garden and the Smurfs Park are adjacent to each other. It is really a botanical garden large enough to play in for a whole day. Let’s talk about the characteristic greenhouse here first. It is a bit far from the gate. It is recommended to take an electric car and then play all the way out. The greenhouse is composed of three halls, namely the Tropical Flower and Fruit Hall, the Xerophyte Hall, and the Rare Plant Hall. It is the largest exhibition greenhouse in Asia. The scenery feels comparable to the greenhouse in Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay. We also have a mini version of a waterfall. Our Xerophyte Hall is also the world’s largest indoor xerophyte exhibition hall. When visiting, we happened to see others doing commercial shooting. It feels like this exhibition hall is a place where great photos can be taken easily.
Another must-visit place is the Quarry Garden. At first glance, it is a bit like the pit of the Shimao深坑 Hotel. There is a waterfall and a walking path in the pit. Compared with the Shimao深坑 Hotel, it is slightly smaller, but it also has that kind of charm. The rose garden is larger than expected. Along the way, you can smell the fragrance of flowers. Various varieties of roses are blooming competitively. Even on rainy days, it cannot stop the beauty of the flowers. The popular science in the botanical garden is very well done. There are often primary and middle school students from Shanghai or the surrounding areas coming here for spring outings and autumn outings. Therefore, this is also a good place for family outings on weekends. Address: No. 3888 Chenhua Highway, Songjiang District. Ticket price: 60 yuan. Time: 08:00 – 17:00. New Century Grand Hotel Songjiang. After visiting so many scenic spots in Songjiang this time, I decided to stay overnight in Songjiang. Because some scenic spots are in Sheshan, some are near the university town, and some are in the old city area. So the most convenient place is to arrange it at the center point of the entire trip – Songjiang New City. New Century Grand Hotel Songjiang is very famous in Songjiang. It has a particularly good geographical location. It is in the Kaiyuan Mediterranean commercial center. This is a very mature commercial center that has been open for several years. So when you walk out of the hotel, there are all kinds of shopping and dining options. The popularity is very high. For people like me who like to drink milk tea, there are also many choices. The transportation is also very convenient. Although I also suggest that self-driving is a good choice for traveling in Sheshan. My room is on the 19th floor, which is considered a middle floor. The view from the high floor is still very good. Opposite my room is exactly Songjiang Central Park. The room is very spacious. The bedding is also very skin-friendly. The bathroom has a bathtub and a shower. It is a four-separate design. If you don’t want to go out to eat, I suggest you can try the Chinese restaurant in the hotel – Jinyuan. It is on the second floor of the hotel. It is a very mature restaurant. The local dishes are in line with the rules. The ingredients are very fresh. The meat of lobsters is very elastic. Basically, there will be no pitfalls. Address: No. 1799 North Renmin Road, Songjiang District. Price: The room is 600 – 700 yuan per night, and the per capita consumption is more than 300 yuan. Xiaoye Shu, the Old-fashioned Shanghai Folk Flavor. It mainly serves farmhouse dishes. It is an out-and-out popular local restaurant in Songjiang. If you want to eat local dishes, you must come here. Usually, many local people come to eat here. You must go early to avoid the peak hours. There are two stores in total in Songjiang. We went to the head store. As soon as you enter the door, all kinds of dim sum are displayed on the side of the passage. The decoration in the restaurant also has a folk flavor. I feel like I want to introduce every dish to you. The intangible cultural heritage soft cake is a specialty of Yexie Town, Songjiang. The filling here contains pine nuts, raisins and red bean paste. A cage of seven costs 23 yuan. There is also the crab shell yellow with crab roe. It is fresh, fragrant, crispy and baked on site. It takes about 15 minutes and costs 4 yuan each.
There are also pickled watermelon rinds made at home in summer when I was a child. They are all sold here. I think older people must like the spiced duck. It is cooked very thoroughly but not hard at all. People with bad teeth can also eat it. However, the most important thing here is that I recommend the spiced and captivating organic fish for 148 yuan. It is served on the table and steamed. If two people come to eat, they may be extremely full. The fish is very tender but also very flavorful. The spiced soup is extremely delicious. Slightly spicy, it suits the taste of people in Shanghai. Even people from Sichuan at the same table say it’s delicious. It seems that the taste is popular all over the country. Now it’s not the season for hairy crabs yet, so we ordered green crabs stir-fried with rice cakes. The handmade rice cakes here are also recommended dishes. As soon as it was served, I ate four pieces of rice cakes. It’s so delicious. Recently, the restaurant has obtained a certificate for making puffer fish and has started selling puffer fish. We also tried puffer fish soup. Unfortunately, after eating too much, we were already a bit full, so we packed it and took it away. Address: No. 768, Songwei North Road, Sanming Plaza. The restaurant has parking coupons. Per capita: 70-80 yuan. Forest Hotel. All the way down from Sheshan Mountain and walk to the opposite side of the east gate exit is the Forest Hotel. This is an upscale resort hotel. Behind it are mountains and bamboo forests. There are single-family luxury houses and guest rooms suitable for ordinary people. You can choose according to your own situation. That day, we were lucky to have the opportunity to visit the single-family luxury house in Building 9. I heard that it cannot be booked through online channels because there are requirements for guests staying. Home parties are not allowed. This three-story small villa offers a beautiful view of Sheshan Mountain from the balcony on the third floor. Along the roadside of the Forest Hotel, there is a Forest Family, which is a good place to eat local dishes. Don’t think that the catering consumption in a resort hotel will be very expensive. It’s really very affordable here. It is especially suitable for having lunch here after visiting Sheshan Mountain. The Taoyuan plain boiled chicken is made from local chickens in Sheshan. The meat is very delicious and the price is not expensive. Half is 58 yuan. This is my favorite. In addition, braised pork with pickled pork and vegetable rice is really delicious. The soy sauce and lard in the meat juice seep into the salty pork and vegetable rice below, making both the rice and the meat delicious. The soup dish loved by locals in Songjiang is somewhat similar to the thickening method of shepherd’s purse and tofu soup. You can taste the freshness of the vegetables. It is said that the soup inside is made from chicken soup, so it can bring out the freshness of the ingredients. The fish soup here is also recommended. It uses basa fish fillets and milky white soup. You can also add scallions and pepper according to your own taste. There will be no fishy smell at all. There are also some recommended dishes, such as pork cartilage, curry beef brisket (Thai style), eel shreds wrapped in pancakes, fried salted pig’s trotters, etc. The tastes are all very good. Address: Inside Sheshan Forest Hotel, No. 9259, Waiqingsong Highway. Per capita: About 70-80 yuan for catering.
The beauty of Songjiang may not be as bustling as the downtown area of Shanghai, but it quietly influences every Shanghainese with its own stories, adding more options and enjoyment to our leisure life. If you like my content, I hope you can interact and discuss more. If there are any areas that are not comprehensive enough, please correct me. If you want to continue seeing such content, you can follow me.

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