Shangfashan Village

Shangfashan Village

Shangfashan Village is situated at the foot of the Qi Great Wall. Legend has it that General Jiang and his descendants, who guarded the section of the Qi Great Wall from Pili Jian to Huangshi Pass, settled here and gradually formed the village. The village is widely known for its ancient "locust tree embracing elm" tree. There are over 200 ancient stone house courtyards and four Tang Dynasty wells in the village. Among them, the most distinctive is the Li Family Courtyard, a two-story stone building with upturned eaves and exquisite, majestic architecture. It is said to have been built in the early years of the Republic of China by Li Fengzhang, an orthopedic doctor. The stage in the village committee courtyard still retains a slogan that was popular nationwide in the 1960s: "Sailing the seas depends on the helmsman; making revolution depends on Mao Zedong Thought." The village’s "Laiwu Bangzi" opera has been passed down for over 160 years and remains vibrant to this day. In addition, the village is famous for its small cherries, which have thin skins, thick flesh, and a sweet and sour flavor that is refreshing and unforgettable.

Tang Dynasty Well

This well was built by residents surnamed Jiang during the Tang Dynasty, and spring water gushed out immediately. The well water is cool, sweet, and has never dried up in a thousand years. In 1999, when villagers cleaned the well, they dug out chestnut wood planks from the bottom. According to historical records, this was a custom for digging wells during the Tang Dynasty. Since ancient buckets were all made of wood, wooden planks were laid at the bottom of the well to prevent the stones from damaging the buckets. Chestnut wood does not rot in water for thousands of years, hence its use, which shows how ancient the well is.

Former Site of the Taishan Times Office

The Taishan Times was first published on October 10, 1939, and ceased publication in November 1944. It was the official newspaper of the Tai'an Prefectural Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the only official newspaper published by a prefectural-level party committee during the War of Resistance against Japan. The Tai'an Special Committee of the CCP was established in early 1939 and was renamed the Tai'an Prefectural Committee in September of the same year, responsible for the party's work in Tai'an, Laiwu, Licheng, Zhangqiu, Zichuan, Boshan, and Xintai. At that time, the provincial committee that had been active in the area had moved to the Yimeng Mountain area and founded the Masses Daily, but due to the long distance and difficult transportation, it was hard for people in the Tai'an area to access it. Therefore, the Tai'an Prefectural Committee founded the Taishan Times in Laiwu. It was a tri-weekly publication, 4-page broadsheet, printed with stone presses, with a circulation of over a thousand copies per issue. This site is the former office of the Shangfashan branch of the Taishan Times. The first director was Li Lizhong, later succeeded by Lu Gan and Gong Dafei.

Locust Tree Embracing Elm

The locust tree embracing elm is about a thousand years old. A elm tree grew from its trunk, which is about 200 years old. The two trees have stood together through centuries of wind, frost, snow, and rain, yet still maintain vigorous vitality, hence the name "Locust Tree Embracing Elm." It is also homophonous with "embracing jade" or "locust tree embracing fish," symbolizing "holding jade in one’s arms, having surplus every year." As a result, it has become a wishing tree, where people hang red cloth strips with their good wishes on the branches every year.

Former Residence of Li Bànxiān (Half-Immortal Li)

Li Bànxiān, whose real name was Li Fengzhang, was a renowned philanthropist in the late Qing Dynasty. Known for his generosity, he was said to have been enlightened by a fox spirit in a dream and mastered a unique skill in bone-setting and ankle-treatment. Injured people from nearby villages flocked to him for treatment. Because of his miraculous medical skills, he was honored with the plaque "Li Bànxiān" (Half-Immortal Li), and thus gained fame across the land of Qilu. His former residence is a two-story stone building, with carved beams and painted rafters, upturned eaves, and majestic architecture. The main components of the building are all made of stone, ranging from dozens of pounds to seven or eight hundred pounds in weight, each meticulously polished. The carvings on the stones are exquisitely lifelike and vivid.