In Zhoujiaqiao, past glory linked with the present
Print Edition
TO the west of Zhongshan Park lies a row of high-rise buildings along both sides of Changning Road. Just a few blocks away from Hongqiao Economic and Technological Development Zone, the area along Suzhou Creek called Zhoujiaqiao has become an up-market neighborhood. In many ways, Zhoujiaqiao is the epitome of the city’s changing landscape.
Zhoujiaqiao was previously the name of a bridge which once spanned across the tributary of Licongjing River. Its former site is where today’s Hongqiao Wanbo Garden is located, right at the intersection of Changning Road and Jinping Road.
Zhoujiaqiao or literally Zhou’s Bridge was initially made of wood. Rebuilt as a cement bridge in 1925, it was demolished in 1958 when the river beneath was filled to become a road.
The bridge was named in memory of Zhou Zhonghong, an official who died at his post to dredge Suzhou Creek.
Lands around the bridge prospered at the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) when three roads were built here. The convenient land and water transport made the area an ideal place to open factories.
In 1929, Wu Yunchu set up Tianchu MSG Plant to break up the monopoly of Japan’s Ajinomoto, the only monosodium glutamate product on the market in the 1920s.
For hydrochloric acid, the main raw material of MSG, the company had to rely on imports, so Wu partnered with other investors to build China’s first chlor-alkali plant, called Tianyuan Electrochemical Factory.
Apart from Wu’s factories, more than a dozen of other enterprises including texture mills owned by the Rong family, one of China’s wealthiest families, were opened in Zhoujiaqiao. Tall factory buildings and roaring machines made up the area’s new look.
Qiangjiajiao was also an important ferry crossing in Zhoujiaqiao at the time. The ferry service was initially privately-owned and merged with Shanghai Ferry Company in 1956. The government later expanded the dock and equipped the crossing with electric ferries.
The ferry service of Qiangjiajiao was closed in 1997 and the Qiangjiajiao ferry crossing was later replaced by a footbridge.
The riverside area became run-down but got a facelift in 1990s. Shabby houses were demolished. High-end apartment and office buildings rose one after anther on both sides of Changning Road, and Gubei Road Bridge replaced the footbridge in 2008. Streets including Loushanguan Road, Jinping Road and Wuwushan Road were paved. The Hongqiao Riverside Park along Gubei Road became a good place for locals to spend their leisure time.
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