Artists trace history of Minhang with stylized animation
A group of young artists were invited to create illustrations and animation for a scroll work in honor of the 30th anniversary of the founding of the new Minhang District.
A bilingual animation scroll -- "Origin of Metropolitan Shanghai, Minhang's Future Holds A Big Promise" -- was recently released in honor of the 30th anniversary of the founding of the new Minhang District.
In 1992, a new Minhang District appeared in Shanghai through a combination of the old district and Shanghai County. Vast changes have taken place as the district went through its urbanization process.
A group of young artists were invited to create illustrations and animation for the scroll work.
The animation, portrayed in a traditional Chinese ink painting style, traces Minhang's history from ancient times to the modern era.
It features Huang Daopo (1245-1330), a pioneer in China's early textile industry, weaving and spinning fiber. Ye Zonghang is also present. The talented water-control expert lived in Minhang during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and saved Shanghai from floods by suggesting to combine the estuaries of the Huangpu and Suzhou rivers (now the Bund). The animation pictures him pondering life on the bank of the flowing river.
Also featured are the spacious and graceful boulevard Minhang No. 1 Road, the Maqiao Lion Dance, authentic Qibao glutinous rice balls, the Grand neoBay, the district's education resources, and cultural landmarks.
Shanghai, a city at the estuary of the Yangtze River and the center of China's north-south coastal line, has prospered as an ancient Yangtze River civilization. It also embraces a boundless ocean culture.
If we fold a map of Shanghai twice, then unfold it, we get a central point inside Minhang, a central district in Shanghai.
Around 6,500 years ago the area was a vast expanse of ocean. Five hundred years later land started to form in the now Maqiao Town in Minhang. Another 4,000 years later the coastal line moved several kilometers eastward, thus beginning traces of human civilization, living and laboring in the area.
The animation, "Origin of Metropolitan Shanghai, Minhang's Future Holds A Big Promise," guides viewers through the history of Minhang; its past and present.
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Located in Maqiao Town of Minhang District and the center of Shanghai's ancient north-south ridge area, the Maqiao culture that dates back about 3,900-3,200 years was the origin when Shanghai shed off its nameless identity and began its rise toward a modern metropolitan city.
Chunshen King Huang Xie (314-238 BC) of the State of Chu managed the fief throughout Wuyue (today's Yangtze River Delta region). Legend has it that Huang led his men to control water and prevent floods in Shanghai during his reign. Huang made contributions to benefit his people. Even now, he is still remembered by people in Minhang and Shanghai.
A pioneer in China's early textile industry, Huang Daopo (1245-1330), born in Wunijing Town of the former Shanghai County, improved the techniques of weaving and spinning fiber and passed her three decades of weaving experience on to local women. She made innovations in textile tools and played a significant role in propelling the economy of rural and urban areas in Jiangnan in the Ming and Qing dynasties thanks to the textile heritage she left behind.
Ye Zonghang was a talented water-control expert in Minhang in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) who saved Shanghai from floods by suggesting to combine the estuaries of the Huangpu and Suzhou rivers (now the Bund). The Huangpu River curved at almost a right angle in its Minhang section after Ye's water control project and flowed north to the Wusong Estuary till it reached the Pacific Ocean as an artery of Shanghai.
Dong Qichang (1555-1636), a notable painter and calligrapher in Huating, Songjiang, in the Ming Dynasty, now Maqiao Town of Minhang, has influenced China's painting and calligraphy circles for more than 300 years.
Qibao earned its name from the Seven Treasures Temple. Legend has it that Qibao, or the seven treasures, were: the Buddha statue from heaven, a floating bell, a jade hatchet, a rooster-shaped mound, jade chopsticks, a magic catalpa tree and a golden lotus sutra.
Puhuitang River crosses Qibao Town of Minhang. Puhuitang Bridge, a three-arch stone bridge dating back 500 years, endured flames of war and is still preserved well after renovation.
About 500 hundred years ago, people rang the bell in Zhaojialou, or the Grain Calling Mansion, to summon farmers to work every morning. The area of the mansion, a symbol of virgin land cultivation, developed into the Zhaojialou ancient town in now Pujiang Town of Minhang.
Chinese troops fought the invading Japanese forces at the site of the No. 7 Bridge Fortress in Minhang during World War II. During China's War of Liberation, the Kuomintang army built dozens of other fortresses around here, as this was the only way to advance on downtown Shanghai from the southwest. The People's Liberation Army of the Communist Party of China fought for three days and nights to conquer this bridge. It is now a patriotic education base of Shanghai.
Heading west from Metro Line 5 Jiangchuan Road Station, you arrive at the Minhang No. 1 Road where camphor trees stand on both sides. As the first satellite city of Shanghai, Minhang built its industrial street at then China's fastest speed of 78 days. The street was also Shanghai's most spacious graceful boulevard at the time.
The "Big Four Factories" – Shanghai Steam Turbine Factory, Shanghai Electrical Machinery Plant, Shanghai Heavy Machinery Plant and Shanghai Boiler Factory, created an era of prosperity for China's energy equipment industry on the camphor tree road.
In 1992, a new Minhang District appeared in Shanghai through a combination of the old district and Shanghai County, as was approved by the State Council of China. The development of this historic land started a new chapter.
The Xinzhuang overpass, completed in 2001, used to be the largest overpass in Asia.
Minhang's Jinjiang Amusement Park created a sensation when it opened for business on February 1, 1985. The Ferris wheel in the park, which some locals ride to celebrate New Year, has been a Shanghai landmark for long.
In 1993, Shanghai residents witnessed the city's first Metro line connected to Jinjiang Amusement Park. The new Minhang District government quickly decided to introduce the metro from Jinjiang Amusement Park to Xinzhuang Town. When completed, Metro Line 1 soon became one of the busiest subway arteries in Shanghai.
As a key traffic hub in Shanghai, Minhang is connected with the rest of the country and the world through its Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station and Hongqiao International Airport Terminal 2 Station.
The Qizhong Tennis Center in Minhang has been the venue for the annual Shanghai Masters tennis tournament since 2009. The center is Asia's largest and the world's third largest tennis center. Starting from 2023, the center will welcome an upgraded Shanghai Masters to meet the expectations of tennis fans.
Minpu Bridge, the 8th bridge across the Huangpu River, connects the Puxi and Pudong areas of Minhang. Its wetland, reed marshes, waterweeds and pink muhly grass fields in the fall match well with its riverfront industrial relics.
Shanghai Heavy Machinery Plant in Minhang played an essential role in the construction of Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant.
The Sky Whale self-propelled cutter suction dredger, with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, which has one of its campuses in Minhang, as one of its designers, is a fruitful result in China's marine engineering equipment manufacturing.
The Jade Rabbit lunar rover made its landfall on the moon also thanks to the efforts and knowledge of Shanghai aerospace researchers.
Minhang launched a satellite into space in August 2022 that carries the space dreams of students from the district's middle and primary schools.
An ambitious blueprint for the Grand neoBay was released with the aim of building the park into a cradle of sci-tech innovation. Along with Yangpu National Innovation City, Zhangjiang Science City and the Huawei Qingpu Research Center, the Grand neoBay will make Shanghai a global sci-tech innovation center.
Minhang is noted for its high-quality education and medical resources backboned by schools like Shanghai Jiao Tong University, East China Normal University, and the Shanghai Theater Academy.
Twelve high-end hospitals are under construction in the Shanghai New Hongqiao International Medical Zone.
Minhang Culture Park is where the Haipai Museum, Minhang District Museum, and Powerlong Museum are located. This culture cluster is a new landmark for Shanghai's high-quality cultural life.
Shanghai proverbs, with their unchanged language and diverse figures of speech, portray either a life of farming or a town life in Shanghai hundreds of years ago. They are full of life wisdom and universal knowledge, accumulated by generations of Shanghai people. In 2011, they were listed as a part of the national intangible cultural heritage.
The glutinous rice balls on Qibao Old Street, with their variety of fillings, including sesame, shepherd's purse, sweetened bean paste and shredded pork meat, taste good and authentic.
Maqiao dried bean curds, an intangible cultural heritage snack in Minhang, is both an instant food and can be cooked with pork and garlic.
Zhuanqiao steamed rice cake, a specialty of Zhuanqiao Town in Minhang, is included in Shanghai's list of intangible cultural heritage.
The Maqiao Lion Dance is another national-level intangible cultural heritage item in Minhang. These cultural and historic resources are well protected as part of Shanghai's Jiangnan culture relics.
On September 26, 2022, local time, the 2022 CIIE China Europe Freight Train set off from Hamburg, Germany, for Shanghai. It was the second time that exhibited items for the China International Import Export (CIIE) arrived in Shanghai from Hamburg through the freight train.
A total of 54 Minhang-based overseas companies in the fields of food, chemical, pharmaceuticals and machinery, among others, attended the 5th CIIE this year. The Minhang purchasing group signed deals valued at over US$1 billion during the fair.
By 2035, the fully developed Hongqiao International Hub for Opening Up is expected to serve as an important carrier to promote the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region and enhance China's opening-up level. Minhang District is an essential component and major arena in the international hub construction.
The Qianwan area is the front bay area where Suzhou Creek, one of Shanghai's mother rivers, enters downtown. It covers 30 square kilometers, with a key development zone expanding for 10 square kilometers.
A region deeply connected with the world and welcoming changes in the future, Minhang's future holds a big promise.
