Shanghai Square Tower

Located in No. 1, on the Fangta South Road in Songjiang District of Shanghai, Shanghai Square Tower was built in period of Yuanyou in the Northern Song Dynasty (960 A.D.-1,127 A.D.) with a long history of more than 900 years, which is 42.65 meters (140 feet) high with 9 floors in all, and it is in the shape of a square.

The main features of Shanghai Square Tower

Shanghai Square Tower is a brick-wood structured architecture with 6 -meter (6.6 -yard) wide outer walls at the basement, surround by corridors, and the whole tower shrinks from the bottom to the top bit by bit. The outer walls can be divided into 3 parts by the brick columns, with Kunmen in the main hall and a square hall in the interior, and all the floors are connected by wood stairs inside the tower. The tower spire on the top of the tower is composed of the faces of the tower and Wish-Granting Bottle, which is as high as 8 meters (26 feet) with 4 iron cables connecting the spire and eaves on the 9th floor, and the wind-bells hang from the eaves of the tower, which are very pleasant for the visitors from a far distance, preventing the birds nesting on the eaves. Standing on the top of the tower, you will have a panorama of the whole Songjiang District, having a deep sense of history. The tower has erected in the garden for more than 900 years, which has a very close relation with its reasonable structure.

There are many different kinds of timbers in the tower body with three layers of wood ferrules on each floor besides the outer stairs, eaves and bucket arches, which is prohibited in architecture practice owing to the susceptible to corrosion of the woods, however, all the wood materials in the tower are corrosion-proof, and it is really a miracle in the history of architecture. During the renovation of the tower, a Japanese architectural professor was very surprised by its corrosion-proof condition, and he said: “The tower is really a precious treasure that your ancestors have left you.” During the Anti-Japanese War, the cannons exploded near the tower, however, it still stood as it was, and it is really another mysterious miracle in some sense. Now a park-the Square Tower Park is built here, which is centered with the square tower, attracting more and more visitors very year.

Getting there:

It is located in No. 1, on the Fangta South Road in Songjiang District of Shanghai, and you can take a bus No. 7 and 17 to get there directly. It is open to the public from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm every day.