闵行区旧村现代化改造，最大限度保留原始风貌 - 2016年08月26日

TWO old villages in Minhang will be upgraded with modern amenities, but their ancient character will be preserved in the process, according to district urban planning authorities.

Pengdu Village in Maqiao Town and Gexin Village in Pujiang Town are on the central government’s register of “Traditional Chinese Villages.”

For the past half year, the Minhang District Planning Land Administration has been compiling data from the villages through questionnaires, interviews and forums. All the input was used to develop a blueprint for the upgrading.

Pengpu Village has a main street about 300 meters long, with several houses that have been standing for hundreds of years. The Ancestral Hall of the Jin Family is the best preserved of them. A small theater stage in the home’s yard collapsed, but the old beams remain and carvings can be seen on them. The hall served as a barn for years, and then a new buyer sub-divided it and rented it out to migrants.

The structure will be restored to its original state. Other architecture relics were uncovered amid illegal structures built by villagers.

According to the renovation blueprint, the new Pengdu Village will have a riverside scenery area, a modern traffic network and a public service area featuring information centers, stores and eateries. An agriculture area will be retained and upgraded.

Gexin Village sits near Zhaojialou Ancient Town. The village has started to attract spill-over visitors in recent years, but its traffic and drainage systems couldn’t cope with larger numbers.

Public service facilities were poor or lacking, said the administration.

“We plan to develop ‘sightseeing agriculture’ in the two villages, so that the villagers can keep their roots and have some economic backup,” said one official. “We want to preserve the traditional culture in both villages.”