Qibao Ancient Town

A canal-laced old town in Shanghai's western suburbs whose history reaches back roughly a thousand years to the Northern Song period. Stone bridges arch over a narrow waterway lined with Ming and Qing timber shophouses leaning above flagstone lanes. Its name, meaning seven treasures, comes from a former temple, and it now draws visitors for street food, a cricket-fighting museum, a traditional distillery and boat rides beneath the humpbacked bridges. It offers a taste of water-town life within metro reach of the center.