AFTER exhausting all the well-known scenic spots in Minhang, some people develop aesthetic fatigue and complain there's nothing of interest left to explore.

That's not necessarily true. As the French sculptor Rodin once noted: "Beauty is everywhere. It is not that she is lacking to our eye, but that our eye fails to perceive her."

So let's open our eyes to the hidden beauty just around the corner and continue our tour of interesting old streets off the beaten track.

Our meandering along cobblestone paths and beside carved stone bridges took us last month to Duhang, Zhudi, Jiwang, Hexiangqiao and Maqiao streets. This time, our journey continues on to Chenhang, Zhuanqiao and Caohang streets, which also have plenty of old tales to whisper in our ears.


Zhuanqiao Street, faded past

The name Zhuanqiao originated from an eponymous stone arch bridge (qiao means bridge in Chinese) dating back to ancient times. The bridge, once the center of Zhuanqiao, was dismantled in 1969, but its memory remains in an area filled with interesting nooks and crannies.

The street is not easy to find, which adds to its charm. There are a number of branch roads on Zhuanjian Road, and the north and south sections of Zhuanqiao Old Street are among them. They are filled with small grocery stores, a post office, street vendors and residences.

The best guide to the street are the old grey roof tiles still seen on buildings dating back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Nobody is quite sure anymore who once lived in the buildings.

The north section and south section of the street are divided by Zhuanjian Road, but there are signs at the entrance of the street to help you find your way.

It is a narrow street. Local residents are few and close-knit.

A visitor with a camera is immediately spotted as an "outsider" and may arouse a bit of curiosity. This area is off the tourist route, but strollers will find the local people warm-hearted and eager to serve as guides to their neighborhood.

The north section of the street is very short. You can see its end while standing on one side. Zhuanqiao Shuchang (a place for people to enjoy storytelling) is a two-story building.

It looks a bit worse for wear, though it's been renovated several times. The building was constructed during the Qing Dynasty.

Zhuanqiao Shuchang, founded in 1979, and was once a bustling place. It has seating for 240 and played host to huju operas and pingtan musical storytelling performances in its heyday.

Its owner, who declined to be identified, said sadly that the site was closed last year because of difficulty making ends meet.

"A performer of shuoshu (storytelling) charges 100 yuan (US$15) a day, and we can no longer afford it," he said. Admission to a two-hour performance usually costs about 2 yuan or less.

Shuoshu is a traditional one-man artistic form of storytelling - a great favorite of older people.

Now, the banister bearing woodcarving patterns is crumbling, the corridor is littered with rubble and old furniture lies randomly around. The owner said they will be burned as firewood.

The building is divided into several single rooms and rented out.

There is a teahouse near Zhuanqiao Shuchang. For local people, it's a place where the past survives. For decades, from dawn to dusk, people would congregate there to sip tea and talk.

Zhao Genyu, 78, a retired farmer, has been patronizing the teahouse for more than 50 years.

"I can sit here for hours and chat with others," he said. "It's my favorite pastime."

His house is 15 minutes away by foot.

"I like taking a stroll on the street everyday," he said as he sipped green tea. His distinctive Minhang dialect seemed smartly at home in the mottled old building.

In the past, there were shuoshu performances in the teahouse. Zhao said he used to enjoy them very much because they swelled on historical themes.

In one of its former lives, Zhao said, the teahouse was a temple dating back hundreds of years.

Today, only green tea and red tea are served up with history. A pot of tea costs 1.5 yuan.

Jiao Pinlai, owner of the teahouse, comes from Anhui Province. Her son operates a mahjong parlor on the street.

Jiao said she was forced to raise the price for a pot of tea from 1 yuan when the price of tea leaves doubled last year.

The south section of the street includes a mutton shop, restaurants, barbershops, shoe repair stalls and photo stores. With so few people on the streets, many shop owners wile away the afternoon playing mahjong.

The clacking of the tiles, the laundry hung open-air to dry and Spring Festival couplets on walls all add a distinctive charm to the street. Zhao said ruefully that many of the old shops selling tofu, meat and fish on the east section of the street have now vanished.


Caohang Street, fine food and hip clothing shops

Unlike other old streets in Minhang, Caohang Street is much more prosperous and features food stalls, clothing shops and restaurants.

Caohang was named for one of the family clans who first inhabited the street.

In the 1980s, it was widened to eight meters and the old street was merged into a new one. Banks, a post office and shops were built alongside.

Caohang prospered as a market town for the cotton and cloth industries during the Qing Dynasty. Textiles waned and by the 1950s, commercial shops began to take over the area. The Caohang Old Restaurant opened in 1958, next door to the post office.

The restaurant features red walls and old-fashioned black bricks, but refurbishment has given the place a somewhat modern look. Bamboo is planted outside.

One of delicacies served inside is black silky chicken, prized for its tenderness and nutritional benefits. It is said to accelerates healing after surgery and be good for women who suffer dizziness after giving birth.

The chicken soup and steamed chicken with ginseng and donkey-hide gelatin are recommended.

For a snack, you might try the outdoor stalls selling peanuts, almonds and watermelon seeds.


Chenhang: three families

Chenhang old street in Pujiang Town is marked by a group of old buildings that are the largest cluster of their type ever discovered south of Shanghai.

The history of three founding families is written here.

More than 500 years ago, Chenhang was a tiny village on the Huangpu River. As the area developed, the Qin, Hu and Chen families settled there.

Each of their three family houses combines East and West. There are traditionally carved wooden gates, doorframes, ceilings and windows, translucent blue window panes imported from Europe, and ornamental Western-style flowerbeds.

The Chen family ran a woodworking business. It's said that one of Chen's boat laden with wood sank in a storm in the Puhuitang, a small river running through the village.

Kind-hearted villagers helped Chen recover the wood. In gratitude, he decided to settle there and open his woodcraft shop. To repay the community, he dedicated himself to charitable works. The street's name honors his memory.

The Qin legacy started with Qin Yubo (1295-1373), a chief imperial examiner who was posthumously honored by the emperor with the title "City God of Shanghai" and is still worshiped in the City God Temple in Shanghai's Yuyuan Garden.

Qin lived and worked most of his life in Chenhang Village. His descendants included court officials in Beijing and famous traditional Chinese medicine practitioners.

Qin Xiaokang, 71, is the current patriarch of the family home, which features wooden floors, decorative stained glass, Roman-style wood carving and formal flowerbeds.

Qin's study is called Plum Blossom Hall, named after a flower-shaped burl on an old tree in the center of the courtyard.

Around 200 years ago, the Hu family arrived from Anhui Province and ran a very successful rice business. The two-story residence of Hu Zuilou, with three courtyards now, is among the area's best-preserved.

The house was constructed during Qing Dynasty Emperor Guangxu's reign (1875-1908). Though it's run down today, the house still contains many details harking to its splendid past.

Hand-sized stained glass panes imported from Europe are skillfully inlaid in many inner doors and panels to let in light. Such glass is extremely rare and was a sign of wealth and status.


Old streets bear silent witness to yesteryear

Early records trace the history of Minhang's old streets to the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), when towns such as Beiqiao, Wuhui, Qibao and Zhudi sprang up in clusters around temples.

The temples, like the Mingxin Temple in Beiqiao, drew a large number of Buddhist worshipers and contributed to the commerce of the surrounding streets.

During the reign of Emperor Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Wuhui and some old temples during attacks by pirates from Japan along China's coastline.

By the reign of Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty, towns such as Qibao, Zhudi, Beiqiao and Chenhang prospered as centers of commerce, thanks to their fortuitous proximity to the network of rivers and canals used to move goods and people.

These towns further developed during the Kangxi reign and the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). But robust trade was disrupted in the 1860s, when wars broke out between the Taiping army, the Qing government and foreign troops. Temples and buildings in Qibao, Huacao and Hongqiao lay in ruins.

Today, about 10 old streets remain, some in woebegone condition.

Unlike the famed Qibao street, where renovation gave the old roadway a new lease on life, many of the old streets have been deteriorated to sad shambles. Doors on some buildings bear the character áù, which signifies their "temporary" lease on life as they await the bulldozer.