方塔园

This guide to 方塔园 in Shanghai centers on a nine-story pagoda in Songjiang, raised in the late eleventh century as the last trace of a vanished temple. It opens with restoration workers in the nineteen seventies prying open a vault sealed for centuries, and follows the canal town's rise as a link between Hangzhou and Suzhou. You'll also hear how the 1980 garden around the tower was assembled from rescued halls of old Songjiang. Look up at the timber eaves and brick core before stepping inside.