New Mao Grain Storage

New Mao Grain Storage

New Mao Grain Storage is a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Jiangsu Province.

New Mao Grain Storage is located in the New Mao Rice Mill within Dianzhan Village, Chengxiang Town, Taicang City, Suzhou. The entire structure is built with bricks, tiles, and lime, without using any wooden or iron beams or components. Covering an area of 725.4 square meters, the New Mao arched warehouse consists of three interconnected sections—front, middle, and rear—facing south and situated to the north, adjacent to another brick cylindrical warehouse on the mill premises. The arched warehouse features a hip-and-gable roof with pointed cones, topped with red tiles, and has paired flat wooden doors on both the southern and northern gables; each gable is adorned with a brightly colored, three-dimensional five-pointed star emblem. The arched warehouse is externally connected but internally divided, with each section spanning 16 meters in width, 13 meters in depth, and 15 meters in height. From the inside, one can see a series of arches forming the vaulted ceiling, which provides insulation and is leak-proof.

The arched warehouse employs the corbel arch construction technique. The entire structure begins stacking bricks layer by layer outward from the gable walls, which then curve inward to form the arch; this eliminates the need for beams or other supporting frameworks. The load and shear forces are borne by the buttresses, which flair outward in a “V” shape. The seamless integration of right-angle walls and the arched ceiling ensures optimal temperature stability inside the storage space.

In December 2011, New Mao Grain Storage was designated as part of the seventh batch of provincially protected cultural heritage sites by the Jiangsu Provincial Government.

Dianzhan Village: The jurisdiction of Dianzhan Village in Chengxiang Town covers an area of 3.2 square kilometers, with 3,183 mu of arable land. It is divided into 30 villager groups, comprising a total of 619 farming households and a registered agricultural population of 2,272. The village has been awarded dozens of honors, including “National Agricultural Tourism Demonstration Site,” “National Eco-Village,” and “National Advanced Unit for Science Popularization Benefiting Agriculture.” In recent years, the village’s Party committee and village committee have followed the overall requirements of the municipal Party committee and government for new rural construction and urban-rural integration, adhered to the guidance of the Scientific Outlook on Development, and focused on simultaneously accelerating development... More details about Dianzhan Village ++

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Units in Jiangsu Province