Zhangyan Ancient Town

According to the Songjiang Prefecture Annals and Qingpu County Annals, Zhangyan was a market town on the Zhangyan River, which flowed south through Songze Pond, crossed the Taipu River to Songjiang, and reached the Qinglong River in the north. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing dynasty, the town's convenient location attracted many merchants and gentry, and it was home to over 200 households and more than 20 halls. There were two City God Temples, one for the prefecture and one for the county. To the west of the river were over 100 businesses, including markets, rice mills, pawnshops, shops, workshops, teahouses, and taverns. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong, the Xinjing Inspection Department was established here. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the town was located in the heart of eastern Qingpu and was free from Japanese occupation, making it a hub for grain and oil trade in the region. It was known as "Golden Zhangyan, Silver Chonggu." In the early days of the People's Republic of China, the town was home to the governments of Zhangyan and Yanxi Townships. After the district was abolished and the townships merged in 1957, the political, economic, and cultural center moved to Chonggu, and Zhangyan gradually declined. In the 1990s, young people moved to the cities, and the ancient village further declined. The old houses were abandoned, the streets were overgrown with weeds, and even the ancestral home of the Zhang family was in ruins, with only some exterior walls and structures remaining. The Zhangyan renovation project, which began in 2020, inherited the traditional layout of the ancient village, with the Zhangyan River as the market river, buildings along the river, businesses in the north, and residences in the south. The City God Temple and three ancient bridges were restored, and a new concrete and glass bridge was built on the site of Yuanjia Bridge. This completed the historical description of the town's bridges: "four inside, four outside, twelve around," with the four inside bridges finally completed. The Zhangyan Cultural Center, located in the middle of the old street, is particularly noteworthy. Based on the design concept of "survival, growth, and rebirth," the exterior retains the remaining walls of the old Zhang family house, while the interior is a reinforced concrete building with the layout of the old house. The clever integration of old and new makes the cultural center look as if it has "grown" from the old building. The Zhangyan Cultural Center has won world-class architectural awards, including the Dezeen World Building of the Year Award, the Global Human Settlements Award on Planning and Design, and Designboom's Top 10 Museums and Cultural Centers of 2020.