Sheshan, formerly known as Zose, is a pair of

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct Summit (topography), summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally con ...

s in Songjiang District in western

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

, China. The two hills are distinguished as East and , although the more important western hill is also called Sheshan on its own. East Sheshan has an elevation of and West Sheshan has an elevation of , it is the highest point in

, there is a small valley between them. The area around the two hills is a forest park.

Basilica

It is surmounted by the ''Our Lady of China'' Catholic church,

Sheshan Basilica The Sheshan Basilica, officially the National Shrine and Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Sheshan () and also known as Basilica of Mary, Help of Christians is a prominent Roman Catholic church in Shanghai. Its common name comes from its location on t ...

, which was built there between 1922 and 1936 following the establishment of a chapel in 1867, soon replaced by a first church in 1871-1873 by French

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

missionaries. Services in the church are held in Chinese and Latin. The road to the top of Sheshan hill represents the stations of the cross Via Dolorosa (The Way of Suffering) that Christ took to his crucifixion. Every May pilgrims flock to the chapel and the holy road by the hundreds.

Observatory

The hill also houses an observatory founded in 1900 by Jesuits, the

Sheshan Observatory The Sheshan Observatory () is an observatory on Sheshan Hill in Shanghai. History It was built by French Jesuits around 1899 and is one of the oldest astronomical observatory in China (it also hosts one of China's oldest astronomical telesco ...

. In addition to scientific equipment of the modern era, it displays a replica of a

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

earthquake monitoring device, consisting of a jar with dragon heads mounted around the outside and a pendulum inside. Each dragon has a steel ball in its mouth. When an earthquake occurred, the pendulum would swing, knock a dragon causing its mouth to open and a ball to drop out thereby indicating the quake's direction. The observatory has been renovated and reopened as a museum in May 2023.

Transportation

Sheshan is in the vicinity of Sheshan Station on Line 9 of the

Shanghai Metro The Shanghai Metro (; Shanghainese: ''Zaon6he5 Di6thiq7'') is a rapid transit system in Shanghai, operating urban and suburban transit services to 14 of its 16 municipal districts and to Kunshan, Jiangsu Province. Served as a part of Shangha ...

References

Landforms of Shanghai Hills of China {{Shanghai-geo-stub

Basilica

Observatory

Transportation

Further reading

See also

References