参考答案：Facilitated by a network of waterways, overseas trade in Qingpu area has thrived since ancient times. Mao Tower, the lighthouse built in the Tang Dynasty to guide ships, witnessed the growing prosperity of Zhujiajiao. After Shanghai was established as a county level administration, Zhujiajiao took advantage of Shanghai’s development to flourish into a market town thronged with merchants from all parts of the country among a thousand households of residents. As it grew in prosperity with each passing day, its historical and cultural heritage became richer and richer.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, Zhujiajiao was already a trading center for cotton cloth. With an upsurge of the rice trade afterwards, Zhujiajiao earned the reputation as a supplier of cloth for the whole country and grain and oil for the region south of the Yangtze River. As the economy of Zhujiajiao became increasingly prosperous, its cultural activities presented a colorful picture. Zhujiajiao has always been a land of beautiful scenery where scholars and intellectuals came forth in large numbers. Now, what is gone is gone forever, but Mao Tower still stands there as a witness to its glorious past. With the change of the times, Zhujiajiao has now developed into a prominent hub of economic and cultural activities.