Nanxiang Ancient Town (Nan Xiang Old Street)

Nanxiang Town is one of the famous ancient towns of Shanghai, whose rich history has survived from 1,000 years ago into the modern age.

Located in Jiading district with a distance of 18 km to the People's Square, Nanxiang town has a couple of attractions appealing to its visitors, which include the ancient monument – Nanxiang Temple Pagoda 南翔寺塔 (two brick-built pagodas that were built in pair in ancient period (around A.D. 900), the classical garden – Gu Yi Garden 古漪园, and the specialty food – Nanxiang Man Tou (Xiao Long Bao) 南翔小笼.

The town's name "Nanxiang" was evolved from the name of an ancient temple which was built in A.D. 505 and then named "White Crane Nanxiang Temple", it is commonly considered the root upon which the initial fabric of the town grew. The economic prosperity of Nanxiang had credited the town a major trade center in Jiading county since the early stage of the Ming Dynasty (around A.D. 1400).

The part of the town, which is usually called "Nanxiang Old Street" or "Nan Xiang Ancient Town" that has been visited as a tourist destination, has quite the similarity to the other commercially developed ancient towns that you would visit in Shanghai or the other neighboring regions: vendors selling local specialty foods and souvenirs are spreading along those old lanes and alleys where the scenes of indigenous lives and customs are friendly exposed to observation.