Chinese students' outstanding performance in several rounds of PISA tests has attracted extensive attention on Chinese teacher professional development practices and system. The school-based teaching research system has evolved for many years in China and became a mature and systematical model for improving teaching quality. However, this system and its functions has not been fully recognized and understood. This case study, mainly focusing on Shanghai, explores how the teaching-research system formed and developed and how it influenced teachers' learning and professional development. We summarized three different versions of Shanghai' teaching-research models and deeply described their processes, characteristics, and influence. Future research directions and implication for creating an effective and sustained approach for improving teacher quality were also discussed.