"Old bottom, there is an electric light factory on Caogang Beach, once for the middle of the night electricity, at 12 o'clock in front of the gate lights will be a light and a dark, give you a wink, say hello, pretty good white phase!" ——If you ask about the lighting and electricity consumption in Zhujiajiao in the past, the elderly People of Zhujiajiao will tell you this. These unique memories are related to a local electric light factory.
The former site of Zhupu Electric Light Factory is located in the western section of Caohe Street in the historical style area of Zhujiajiao Ancient Town. Walking along Caogang, there are no weaving tourists here, it is an unpowded, original Caohe neighborhood, where the century-old Zhupu Electric Light Factory is located. In the past, the place was in decline and dilapidation, but recently the Zhupu Electric Light Factory was renovated and reopened in the form of a new folk art museum.
Various industrial plants are an important source of urban economic development, but with the development of the times, these factories have gradually been abandoned. However, with the transformation and upgrading of urban development, industrial heritage can also be transformed into a new urban landscape, such as the Zhupu Electric Light Factory.
For the modern industrial development of Qingpu, this home appliance light factory is of great significance. Zhupu Electric Light Factory was founded in the third year of the Qing Dynasty (1911), Jiangsu Sultan disciple Ma Youmei invested 100,000 silver yuan in Caogang Beach to open the "Yufeng Rice Mill" to generate electricity with rice milling, for some commercial banks and government organizations in the town to use electricity for night lighting, and the power plant was initially named Guanghua Electric Lamp Company. By 1912, the horizontal single-cylinder 60-horse diesel internal combustion engine used in the factory was changed to a 50 kVA generator, and the residents of the town also began to use electric lamps to illuminate, creating the first time for the people of Qingpu to use electricity. In 1919, Zhujiajiao Guanghua Electric Lamp Company merged with Qingpu County Guanming Electric Lamp Company and named Zhupu Electric Lamp Factory.
After the founding of New China, the "Zhupu" public-private partnership was finally assigned to the Shanghai Power Supply Bureau, and after nearly half a century of vicissitudes, the Zhupu Electric Light Factory withdrew from the historical stage. In 2004, the former site of Zhupu Electric Light Factory was listed as an immovable cultural relics in Qingpu District; in 2017, Zhupu Electric Light Factory was declared as a cultural relics protection site in Qingpu District as a modern industrial heritage.
Qingpu electric power worker
In recent years, Zhujiajiao Town has repaired and protected the old site of Zhupu Electric Light Factory in accordance with the principle of "not changing the original state of cultural relics" to restore the original appearance of the old building as much as possible. In order to better revitalize and utilize cultural relics and empower urban development, Zhujiajiao Town has built the restored Zhupu Electric Light Factory into a folk art museum and added a new cultural landmark to Zhujiajiao Ancient Town. Nowadays, the Shanghai Zhujiajiao Consignment Flagship Store and the Calligraphy and Painting Intangible Cultural Heritage Wood Carving Museum have hundreds of collections of calligraphy, oil painting, wood carving, porcelain, ancient coins and so on.
In the opening exhibition held recently, the Intangible Cultural Heritage Wood Carving Museum mainly displays the personal collection of Chen Jingzhang, a local wood carving collector in Zhujiajiao. On the east side of the ground floor and the second floor exhibition area of Zhupu Electric Light Factory is the flagship store of The Art Sales Union Shanghai Zhujiajiao Consignment, which is also one of the few institutions in Shanghai with professional cultural relics purchase and sale licenses. The ancient art calligraphy and painting exhibition exhibits a wealth of ancient and modern intangible cultural heritage wood carvings, calligraphy and paintings, porcelain and other collections, mainly from personal collection and creation, of which "Eight Immortals", "Zheng Jun's Discussion War" and other wood carving works set relief and skeleton carving as one, the style is rough, the leaves in the picture are luxuriant, and the images of the birthday star and the eight immortals are fascinating, giving people the enjoyment of beauty.
The Zhupu Electric Light Factory, which is reopened to the public, does not charge tickets, and citizens and tourists can consult public accounts such as "Qingpu Cultural Tourism" and "Zhujiajiao Release" to understand the real-time dynamics of the scenic spot.