Qibao Ancient Town Theme Shanghai Travel

Qibao means "Seven Treasures" in Chinese and the town got its name from a legend that referred to seven treasures in this area along Tours China. Qibao ancient town is an ancient town in Shanghai municipality about 15km south of Shanghai city. With a history of more than 1000 years, it is one of the most important historical sites in Shanghai.

The history of Qibao dates back to the Jin Dynasty (265 - 420). Lu Ji and Lu Yun were famous literati of the Jin dynasty born in Huating, Wu County (current Songjiang District, Shanghai) for top China tours. Their descendents built a family temple to commemorate them after they died, and named it Lubao. During the Five Dynasties and Ten States Period (902 - 979), the temple was renamed Qibao Temple and was moved to the northern bank of Puhui Pond (today’s location). It was just a small temple for regular Buddhism activities until a local rich people extended it in the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279). Believers from nearby areas came to worship the Buddha and some just met friends in the temple, thus a small town was formed around the temple gradually and was therefore named Qibao Town.

This was a very poplar folk activity with the ancient Chinese. Even today, cricket fighting draws a lot of interest. There is a special museum where crickets are displayed and live fighting matches are organized. Although it may seem strange that so many people would be fascinated with crickets, in Qibao Ancient Town the crickets come from very fierce species known as Blue and Iron San d due to the colors of their feet and neck. Due to the fertile lands and the geographical position of Qibao Ancient Town, it offers abundance of water, food and great living conditions to crickets. The crickets, in return, are vigorous and provide very exciting performance every day during the annual Cricket Culture Festival and golden weeks. You need to know Chinese currency.