Zhujiajiao Daqing Post Office, one of the thirteen post stations in Shanghai in the Qing Dynasty, is also a business card of the ancient town.

In Qingpu District, a suburb of Shanghai, an international metropolis, there is a well-preserved Zhujiajiao, an ancient water town in the south of the Yangtze River in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The former site of Zhujiajiao Post Office established by Qing Post Office is one of the business cards of Zhujiajiao ancient town.

In June 2020, we came to Zhujiajiao, an ancient water town near Dianshan Lake in Shanghai. According to historical records, Zhujiajiao became a market in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and the town was officially built in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, named Zhujieting, also known as Zhuxi. In the long history of people, Zhu Jie Pavilion has gradually become a "Zhujiajiao".

Because it is located in the south of the Yangtze River, merchants gathered earlier here, and the cloth industry flourished in the land of plenty. Known as "Jiangnan grain and oil, clothes all over the world", it has become a giant town in Jiangnan. Nine long streets in Zhujiajiao stretch along the river, while thousands of buildings in Ming and Qing dynasties stand by and watch the water. 36 stone bridges still maintain their ancient style, simple scenery and simple folk customs!

Do you know the development of China post office and postal service? The small European-style red brick building with mailbox in front is the former site of the famous Zhujiajiao Daqing Post Office. Zhujiajiao Daqing Post Office is one of the thirteen post stations in Shanghai in the Qing Dynasty, and now it is the only well-preserved post office site in Shanghai. Here we can have an intuitive and in-depth understanding of the development of post stations and postal services in China for thousands of years.

According to the staff of the post office, only this stone tablet engraved with "Zhujiajiao Post Office" has been preserved so far, which is a genuine product preserved in the Qing Dynasty. Everything else is based on the information at that time.

Postman in Qing Dynasty (old photos on the Internet)

In Zhujiajiao ancient town, there is also an antique Daqing post office, located at No.35 Xihu Street (postcode: 20 17 13). There is an essential difference between the Qing Dynasty post office in Zhujiajiao and the Qing Dynasty mailbox in Houhai, Dai Yan, Xie Jie. The Qing Dynasty mailbox in Houhai, Dai Yan, Xie Jie is a private postal organization, and the house where the mailbox is located is not the original one. Daqing Post Office in Zhujiajiao is a serious official post office, which is authentic and antique from the inside out. It is a cultural relic protection unit in Qingpu District, Shanghai.

The former site of Zhujiajiao Post Office in anniversary is a red-blue two-story brick-wood mixed building, with three rooms wide and an area of about 70 square meters, which is very conspicuous in Zhujiajiao's ancient dark wooden house.

The words "Zhujiajiao Post Office" are embedded above the post office gate, which is a unique Shikumen in Shanghai, especially the western flower pattern is very beautiful. From this brick and tile building which combines Chinese and western styles, I vaguely feel that the modern postal service in Qing Dynasty is not only a national helplessness, but also a national progress and a fusion of Chinese and western cultures.

The blue curtain of "Daqing Post" hangs on the gate. On the left side of the gate is a mailbox imitating Daqing Post, which has many similarities with Daqing letter box in Beijing Houhai. On the left side of the mailbox is the signboard of "Daqing Zhujiajiao Post Office Former Site", and on the right side of the mailbox stands the wooden sign of "Daqing Post Office fare is five yuan".

On the right side of the gate stands a marble inscribed with "the former site of Daqing Post Office, a cultural relic protection unit in Qingpu District".

Entering the Qing post office, there are two big houses in the main hall. There are two big lanterns hanging on the beam, and the traditional Chinese characters "Zhujiajiao Post Office" are printed on the lanterns. Further ahead is the high cabinet of the Qing Dynasty postal service, followed by the business personnel serving tourists. On the left of the high cabinet is an old square table with Four Treasures of the Study on it. This is the place to write letters from home.

Seeing this, a feeling of "a letter from home is worth a ton of gold" arises spontaneously. No matter where a wanderer is like a kite, a letter from home will always be the "line" in his heart that connects with home. There are four kinds of postcards, three kinds of postage postcards and one kind of postage-free postcards hanging on the wall next to the high cabinet.

Postcards in Qing dynasty

One domestic postage art postage postcard *** 10 30 yuan, and the other one is a single domestic postage postcard 5 yuan, which is designed as a red framed vertical envelope pattern with the old photo of Zhujiajiao Post Office in Daqing as the background; Each international postage postcard 10 yuan is also designed as a red frame vertical envelope pattern; A set of 8 postcards does not include postage *** 18 yuan. There is also a postage-free souvenir cover, which does not indicate the price.

The photo hanging on the wall is a mailbox of Qing Dynasty.

Daqing Post Zhujiajiao Post Office commemorative stamp album contains stationery, paper-cutting and commemorative envelopes for each 40 yuan. I bought a set of domestic postage postcards from 30 yuan as a souvenir, and chose two landmarks of Zhujiajiao for real mailing.

On the right side of the high cabinet is the corridor leading to Houhe River, and next to the corridor is the stairs leading upstairs. Take the stairs to the second floor. The landlord on the second floor will introduce the history of Daqing Post and Zhujiajiao Post Office. This paper introduces the postcard photos of history of qing dynasty, which makes people return to the specific historical era in the late Qing Dynasty, "being beaten behind" and "the stinking road of Zhumen wine freezes people to death".

In the Qing dynasty, the postman carried the parcel on his shoulder.

By reading the history of Zhujiajiao Post Office in Qing Dynasty, we know that it was gradually developed on the basis of the People's Information Bureau in the Qing Dynasty, and was completed in the second year of Xuantong in Qing Dynasty (19 10).

Follow the aisle on the second floor to the third room, which is transparent from top to bottom and connected by stairs. It mainly shows the development history of China Post Office, from the bonfire in Warring States to the establishment of modern post in Qing Dynasty, which embodies the wisdom of our ancestors.

Postal uniform in Qing dynasty

Go back to the first floor through the stairs, and as soon as you go out, a small river will cross in front of you, reminding you that this is a water town in the south of the Yangtze River. The water gallery on the right shows the whole map of the postal route of the Qing Empire and the postal routes of the provinces at that time, among which the postal route of Outer Mongolia is more famous. Unfortunately, the data map is not well preserved, and some places are moldy. What a pity!

On the left is the river port pier dedicated to the post office. In the Qing dynasty, if you want to enter Zhujiajiao, there is only water, no dry road, and all the mail comes in and out. The black characters of "anniversary Post Office" on the dock wall stand out on the white wall, silently telling the postal history of Zhujiajiao.

The exhibition hall on the top floor shows us all kinds of postcards of that period, which truly reflects the living conditions of people from all walks of life and the folk customs of various regions.

Today, with the development of communication, postcards have become the historical witness of postal culture, providing a window for us to understand the China society in that period.