In the deep spring, where the clouds are purple, people in half the city look at flowers. As spring approaches, it is already the season for wisteria flowers to bloom, so I want to go to Jiading Wisteria Garden, a scenic spot for wisteria viewing in Shanghai to see the magnificent scene of more than 90 wisteria flowers blooming. On April 14, 2019, I came to Jiading specially.

Wisteria Garden, located on the bank of Huancheng River on Bole Road, Jiading District, Shanghai, was built in 1997. The layout of the garden not only has the characteristics of Chinese landscape gardens, but also incorporates some Japanese gardening styles.

Wisteria Garden covers an area of more than 10000 square meters. There are more than 93 fine wisteria trees in the garden, with different varieties, huge flowers and bright colors, including purple, red, pink, white, blue and other colors. The length of the flower ears is generally 60 to 90 centimeters, and the longest one can exceed 150 centimeters.

These wisteria varieties were provided free of charge by Micho Fujimoto, the mayor of Kiyo-cho, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. The wisteria scaffolding in the park was donated by Shinji Tokunaga, president of Japan's Tokunaga Carp Co., Ltd. from Kiyo-cho.

Walking through Jiading's Wisteria Garden, you can see the breath of spring, which makes you dizzying and lingering.

Wisteria is a must-see sight in spring.

Out of Jiading's Wisteria Garden, go west along the north bank of the Huancheng River, pass through the Bole Road Bridge and Cave, and continue west to reach the Nanshuiguan Ruins of the Ancient City Wall of Jiading, which has now been built into Jiading Nanshuiguan Park.

Shuiguan is an integral part of the ancient city wall. It is used to defend enemy forces from attacking cities from water and also has the function of regulating the water flow. There are three existing ancient shuiguan sites in Jiading's Urban area: Nanshuiguan, Xishuiguan and Beishuiguan sites. Among them, Xishui Pass and Nanshui Pass were built in the Yuan Dynasty, and Beishui Pass was built in the Ming Dynasty.

The Jiading Nanshui Pass in front of you was first built in the 18th year of the Yuan Dynasty and Zheng Dynasty (AD 1358), but now this small Shuiguan gate, about ten meters square and two-story, should have been rebuilt, or may even be a replica.

Climb the Nanshuiguan Terrace and look south. The Jiading Moat and Hengli River intersect each other. Standing on the Shuiguan Terrace, you can vaguely imagine the grand occasion of Nanshuiguan, the ancient city of Jiading, which was a key land and water hub.

Looking north, there are modern sluices on the Hengli River to adjust the water level inside and outside the water gate to facilitate the passage of ships.

Crossing Nanshuiguan and heading up the Hengli River, the waterway leads to Huilongtan Park.

Walking down the Nanshuiguan Terrace, you come to the two sections of Jiading ancient city wall ruins in Nanshuiguan Park. These two sections of ancient city wall are not long or high and have already served as part of the walls of residential areas. Of course, judging from the shape and color of the city bricks, some repairs have been carried out to the ancient city wall ruins in recent years.

There is a Jiuqing Pavilion next to the moat between the two sections of the ancient city wall. In front of the pavilion is a large stone engraved with the word "Yucheng", which is the ancient name of Jiading.

The ancient city wall of Jiading was built in the 12th year of Jiading in the Southern Song Dynasty (AD 1219). It was built by Gao Yansun, governor of Jiading County. It has a history of nearly 800 years. Jiading's city wall was originally an earth city. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhang Shicheng, leader of the Southern Peasant Rebellion Army, appointed general Lu Zhen to build the earth wall into a brick city wall with a circumference of 1694 feet and a height of 1.5 feet. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, in order to resist the invasion of Japanese pirates, the city wall was continuously built and strengthened. The ancient city wall of Jiading is roughly circular, but also has a turtle shape. There are four city gates, namely the East Gate (called Yanhaimen in the Yuan Dynasty), the West Gate (called Hepu Gate in the Yuan Dynasty and renamed Jicao Gate in the Ming Dynasty), the South Gate (called Chengjiang Gate in the Yuan Dynasty and renamed Xuanwen Gate in the Ming Dynasty), and the North Gate (called Chaojing Gate and Guanlan Gate in the Yuan Dynasty, and renamed Zhenwu Gate in the Ming Dynasty). The Jiading City Wall was demolished one after another during the Republic of China, and most of it was demolished after 1949. Today, only the ancient city wall with the West Gate and South Gate sections each about 120 meters long and a total length of 240 meters and a width of more than 3 meters. It is the most complete and longest preserved ancient city wall in Shanghai City.

Jiading City Wall Sites include the ancient city wall and the ancient water pass. Out of Nanshuiguan Park, go west and cross Nan Street to the South City Wall Park. The Jiading ancient city wall ruins preserved here are more complete and much longer than the two sections of the city wall at Nanshuuan Pass. This section of the ancient city wall at the South Gate of Jiading is more than 100 meters long and 5 meters high.

Climbing the city wall, I saw many miscellaneous trees growing on the city wall, which was overgrown with vegetation, which had an ancient look and vicissitudes.

Jiading is an ancient city with considerable historical and cultural heritage in Shanghai. The name of Jiading comes from the Jiading year title of the Southern Song Dynasty. The Confucian Temple in Jiading is also a historical Confucian Temple in Shanghai. The tragic arrival of the Qing Dynasty in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties and the "Three Massacres in Jiading" gave it a blood-stained firmness.

This ancient city wall once witnessed the heroism and bloodiness of Jiading scholars Hou Dongzeng, Huang Chunyao and others when they led their troops to resist the Qing army in 1645 AD (the first year of Hongguang in the Nanming Dynasty and the second year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty). The moat flowing water soup Tang has also witnessed the destruction of tens of thousands of lives in Jiading's Three Massacres. Today, the wisteria flowers in Jiading may be because this land has flourished due to blood. Thinking about this, I can't help but sigh.