Old train stops at Dongxia to recall the good old days
The disused Shihudang Railway Station has become a tourist spot after renovation.
An old-style train painted green stops beside a mottled station near the entrance of Dongxia Village’s park commemorating Huangpu River’s origin in Shihudang Town, Songjiang District.
The disused train station, after renovation that was completed before the National Day holiday in October, has become a new landmark in the town.
The neat and clean interiors are decorated with farming culture elements.
Visitors, after they walk across the railway platform and enter the train, will see its neat and clean interiors decorated with farming culture elements including bamboo-woven baskets and tie-dyed hand-woven cloth.
In the exhibition area that occupies the first carriage, farm tools including sledges and rakes are displayed, and former home necessities including foot warmers, abacuses, old-fashioned phones and enamel bowls remind people of the good old days.
In the second carriage, colorful packaged agricultural products of different varieties are neatly arranged on desks and shelves. Jinmao hairy crabs, Xinyuan red pitayas and Dangli fruit and vegetables, representative farm produce in Shihudang Town, are enough to make visitors’ mouths water.
“We renovated four disused carriages and set up those special exhibition areas,” said Lu Junjie, chief of a local rural culture and tourism company.
The old Shihudang Town Railway Station, built in 1908, was one of the earliest railway stations along the Shanghai-Hangzhou railway. A number of TV productions used to include the station as a backdrop to their filming.
The renovation of the disused station and its new appearance are showcasing the culture and history of Shihudang Town to more people.
The four carriages now function as exhibition areas for old home necessities, local agricultural products, displays and sales of cultural and creative products, and a village service center.
“So far we have completed the old home necessities exhibition area and the local agricultural products exhibition and selling area. In the future we will enrich our exhibited items and build the railway station into a tourist spot which visitors are willing to come and take photos of,” said Lu.
Packages of locally produced red pitayas are displayed inside the train.
Address: Huangpu River Entrance Park, Dongxia Village, Shihudang Town
How to get there: G50 (Shanghai-Chongqing Highway) — G1501 (Shanghai Circle Highway) — Minta Road
G15 Shenhai Highway — G60 (Shanghai-Kunming Highway) — G1501 (Shanghai Circle Highway) — Minta Road
