Get to know Baoshan District
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- Administrative area
- District · 市辖区
- Part of
- Shanghai
- Chinese name
- 宝山区
- Local areas
- District guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 424.58 km²
- Population · 2020 Census
- 2,235,218
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
Setting and landscape
The land was built up by Yangtze sediment and is higher in the north-west than in the south-east. The district faces the southern channel of the Yangtze estuary, and its many inland rivers belong to the Lake Tai (太湖) basin; the Wenzao Creek (蕰藻浜) splits them into a northern and a southern network.
History
The name comes from an earthen mound. Grain ships easily ran aground in bad weather on the flat, unmarked coast of Jiading County (嘉定县), so in 1412 the Ming commander Chen Xuan (陈瑄) had a mound with a beacon built on the shore, and it was named Baoshan under the Yongle Emperor. Baoshan County was split from Jiading County in 1725 and soon moved its seat to the walled Wusong garrison town (吴淞所城).
Wusong (吴淞) at the river mouth saw much of the district's modern history. In 1842 the Qing commander Chen Huacheng (陈化成) died resisting the British at the Battle of Wusong. Work began in 1874 on the Woosung Road railway (淞沪铁路), described by Chinese Wikipedia as China's first operating railway, and Ma Xiangbo (马相伯) and Yan Fu (严复) founded Fudan Public School (复旦公学) at Wusong in 1905. In the 1937 Battle of Shanghai, Japanese troops landed here and concentrated their attack on Luodian (罗店) and nearby places. Baoshan County and Wusong District were merged into Baoshan District in 1988.
What to see
Paotaiwan (炮台湾), named after the Qing navy's gun batteries on this old coastal fortress, is now the Wusong Paotaiwan Wetland Park (吴淞炮台湾湿地公园), which the district government calls the first national wetland park in inland Shanghai. It also holds the Yangtze Estuary Science Museum (长江河口科技馆). The Shanghai Museum of Glass (上海玻璃博物馆) occupies the former furnace workshop of the Shanghai Light Industry Glass Company, and Gucun Park (顾村公园), a large country park, is known for the Shanghai Cherry Blossom Festival.
Luodian's Dragon Boat Festival boat rowing has been on the national intangible cultural heritage list since 2008. Its flat-bottomed boats, adapted from local Luodian boats to the town's narrow, winding waterways, carry dragon heads carved from a single piece of camphor wood. The custom began in the Ming, stopped during the late Qing and Republican wars, and was revived in the 1990s.
Highlights
- Wusong Paotaiwan Wetland Park 吴淞炮台湾湿地公园: Former Qing coastal battery site; described by the district as inland Shanghai's first national wetland park.
- Shanghai Museum of Glass 上海玻璃博物馆: Built in the furnace workshop of a former state glass company.
- Gucun Park 顾村公园: Country park known for the Shanghai Cherry Blossom Festival.
- Luodian dragon boats 罗店划龙船: National intangible heritage since 2008; camphor-wood dragon heads on flat-bottomed boats.
Sources for this guide
上海炮台湾景区（吴淞炮台湾国家湿地公园、上海长江河口科技馆）——国家AAAA级旅游景区 · Baoshan District People's Government, Shanghai
上海玻璃博物馆——国家AAAA级旅游景区 · Baoshan District People's Government, Shanghai
顾村公园——国家AAAA级旅游景区 · Baoshan District People's Government, Shanghai
宝山区 - 维基百科 · Wikipedia (Chinese) · CC BY-SA 4.0
端午节（罗店划龙船习俗） · China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-25.
Explore Baoshan District
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Baoshan District
The entrance of Shanghai Museum of Glass · 上海玻璃博物馆 Photograph date recorded by the source: 29 June 2013, 15:05:08.Shanghai Museum of Glass上海玻璃博物馆
Shanghai Museum of Glass explores glass as a material, a technology and an artistic medium. Its galleries connect the development of glassmaking with objects that show different uses of the material.
Read the place guide →
AI illustration · AI 示意图（仅供参考，非该地点实拍）Wusong Paotaiwan Wetland Park吴淞炮台湾湿地公园
Wusong Paotaiwan Wetland Park (吴淞炮台湾湿地公园) is a waterfront park in Shanghai's Baoshan District, near the meeting of the Huangpu and Yangtze rivers.
Read the place guide →Local life & food
Baoshan District local specialties
宝山区特色美食 · 3 specialties to discover
Baoshan red-braised river catfish 宝山红烧鮰鱼AI illustration · AI 示意图
Expect soft flesh and a rich, slightly gelatinous texture around the skin. The savory sauce makes the dish more substantial than a lightly steamed fish.
Source ↗Read the dish guide →
Luodian fish balls 罗店鱼圆AI illustration · AI 示意图
The balls are smooth, light and springy, with a delicate fish flavor. Their texture differs from a coarse minced-meat ball.
Source ↗Read the dish guide →
Luojing Sixi steamed cake 罗泾四喜风糕AI dish illustration / AI 菜品示意图
The appeal is a soft, close-textured crumb and gentle sweetness rather than a brittle pastry shell.
Source ↗Read the dish guide →More dishes from across Shanghai are in the Shanghai food guide.
Plan your visit
Getting there
Baoshan District is about 20 km in a straight line from central Shanghai. Search for 宝山区 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
Shanghai Museum of Glass and Wusong Paotaiwan Wetland Park are both listed here. The linked place guides have entrance and visit details.
Continue with Shanghai →More in Shanghai
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Some facts checked against 宝山区 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Shanghai Museum of Glass · Coolmanjackey · CC BY-SA 3.0. Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.