Amid gentle autumn breezes, the fragrance of rice, and a stunning golden carpet of paddy fields, activities will roll out across the Liantang Town in Qingpu District, offering an ideal option for the upcoming National Day holiday.

The 2024 Shanghai Liantang Jiaobai (wild rice shoots) Festival and Ancient Town Culture and Tourism Festival will run from September 29 to October 7, featuring four themes highlighting nature, guochao (China-chic) fashion, art, and shopping, allowing visitors from home and abroad to experience the charm of Liantang.

At Art-M, a culture and innovation industry park which is the main venue of the festival, visitors can experience agricultural activities such as rice field music shows, rice field painting, and even a rice field catwalk, as well as attend agricultural science classes, and enjoy the fun of rice harvesting and scarecrow making. They can also participate in interactive activities such as roasting corn, field sports meetings, and painting straw hats.

During the festival, the Dongshe Village, a tranquil village with idyllic scenery, will host rural music concerts, rural home-style banquets, village tours and rural markets.

People will be invited to pick seasonal fruit at local orchards and enjoy the joy of harvest. They can also view the Liantang harmonious rural photography and aerial photography works exhibition at the Qingtang Courtyard. Here, people can escape the hustle and bustle of the city and truly converse with nature.

A visual and cultural feast will be presented in Liantang during the National Day holiday, featuring a seal cutting and calligraphy competition, a community square dance competition, intangible cultural heritage display, an art exhibition, and a trendy hanfu parade.

In addition, an ecological hiking activity will be held along the Zhufeng Highway on October 1. Hiking enthusiasts will walk into the lush ecological conservation forest to participate in a 6.5-kilometer ecological hiking event and enjoy the "natural oxygen bar." A jiaobai leaf weaving competition will be held on the same day.

Liantang Ancient Town was once a bustling commercial hub famous across the Jiangnan region – the area south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Its history dates back more than 1,000 years.

Jiangnan-style homes featuring white walls and black tiles line the waterways and alleys, and six stone bridges built in the Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties are silent witnesses to the vicissitudes of history.