Shanghai is the largest city in China. Sitting on the south edge of the estuary of the Yangtze in the middle portion of the East China coast, it is the world's busiest container port.
The Mandarin Chinese name of Shanghai is Shànghǎi, which is written as 上海 in Chinese characters. This name means "On-the-Sea" because Shanghai used to be next to the East China Sea.
For most of China's history, Shanghai was a small fishing village. The big cities nearby were Suzhou and Hangzhou.
Shanghai was upgraded in status from a village to a market town in 1074, and in 1172 a second sea wall was built to stabilize the ocean coastline, supplementing an earlier dike.
Under the Ming, Shanghai had a big city wall built in 1554 to protect the town from raids by Japanese pirates. It measured 10 metres (33 feet) high and 5 kilometres (3 miles) in circumference.
The city started to grow and Shanghai became one of the most important sea ports in the Yangtze Delta region, but it only became truly important after the 1842 Treaty of Nanking. Shanghai was one of five ports opened for foreign trade alongside Canton (Shameen Island from 1859 until 1943): Amoy (Xiamen until 1930), Foochowfoo (Fuzhou) and Ningpo (Ningbo).
Between 1860–1862, the Taiping rebels twice attacked Shanghai and destroyed the city's eastern and southern suburbs, but failed to take the city. In 1863 British Army officer Charles Gordon was placed in command of the "Ever-Victorious Army" - a 3,500 strong European officered rabble raised by the Shanghai merchants to defend the city against the Taiping rebels. He transformed the rabble into an effective force and by careful planning Gordon was able to lead the Ever Victorious Army to victory of the rebels.
The international settlement of Shanghai developed throughout the remainder of the 19th century. It remains the commercial centre of this city after the departure of European interests following the Second World War.
By 1932, Shanghai had become the world's fifth largest city and home to 70,000 foreigners. However, the Japanese captured Shanghai on January 28, 1932, as they invaded China. Shanghai remained occupied until Japan's surrender in 1945, during which time many war crimes were committed.
Between 1933 and 1941, Shanghai accepted unconditionally over 18,000 Jewish people escaping Europe during World War II. This was more than Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and British India combined.
Several Jews fled Germany to Shanghai before the outbreak of the Second World War as it was the only city in the world you could legally land without a visa.
With the Communist Party's takeover of the mainland in 1949, trade was limited to other socialist countries, and Shanghai's global influence declined.
In the 1990s, the economic reforms introduced by Deng Xiaoping resulted in an intense re-development of Shanghai, aiding the return of finance and foreign investment to the city.
Shanghai has a subway system with 7 million daily riders. The metro in this port city opened in 1995.
A $12.5 million theme park based on Hans Christian Andersen's tales and life opened in Shanghai at the end of 2006.
The 2010 census put Shanghai's total population at 23,019,148. More people live in Shanghai than in all of Australia, but Shanghai is physically about half the size of Sydney, Australia.
Mission: Impossible III dropped a shot of Shanghai clothes lines from the Chinese cut because it made China look like a developing country.
Shanghai is sinking by about 1.5 centimeters a year due to the weight of rapid building expansion on what was once a drained swamp.
Famous buildings include the Jade Buddha temple, the former home of the revolutionary Sun Yat-Sen; The City God Temple or Temple of the City Gods, a folk temple located in the old city of Shanghai, which is the site of the veneration of three Chinese figures honored as the city gods of the town; the Yu Garden, an extensive Chinese garden located beside the City God Temple: and the house, museum and tomb of the writer Lu Fun.
Another tourist attraction is the house where the first national Congress of the Communist Party of China met secretly in 1921. It is a typical shikumen building in the former French Concession (see below).
The Shanghai Tower is a 632-metre (2,073 ft), 128-story megatall skyscraper. It is the world's tallest building, by height to highest usable floor (Observation Deck Level 121: 561.25m). It also has the world's fastest elevators at a top speed of 20.5 m/s (74 km/h; 46 mph).
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| The Lujiazui skyline in Shanghai. By J. Patrick Fischer |
The Mandarin Chinese name of Shanghai is Shànghǎi, which is written as 上海 in Chinese characters. This name means "On-the-Sea" because Shanghai used to be next to the East China Sea.
HISTORY
For most of China's history, Shanghai was a small fishing village. The big cities nearby were Suzhou and Hangzhou.
Shanghai was upgraded in status from a village to a market town in 1074, and in 1172 a second sea wall was built to stabilize the ocean coastline, supplementing an earlier dike.
Under the Ming, Shanghai had a big city wall built in 1554 to protect the town from raids by Japanese pirates. It measured 10 metres (33 feet) high and 5 kilometres (3 miles) in circumference.
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| The walled Old City of Shanghai in the 17th century |
The city started to grow and Shanghai became one of the most important sea ports in the Yangtze Delta region, but it only became truly important after the 1842 Treaty of Nanking. Shanghai was one of five ports opened for foreign trade alongside Canton (Shameen Island from 1859 until 1943): Amoy (Xiamen until 1930), Foochowfoo (Fuzhou) and Ningpo (Ningbo).
Between 1860–1862, the Taiping rebels twice attacked Shanghai and destroyed the city's eastern and southern suburbs, but failed to take the city. In 1863 British Army officer Charles Gordon was placed in command of the "Ever-Victorious Army" - a 3,500 strong European officered rabble raised by the Shanghai merchants to defend the city against the Taiping rebels. He transformed the rabble into an effective force and by careful planning Gordon was able to lead the Ever Victorious Army to victory of the rebels.
The international settlement of Shanghai developed throughout the remainder of the 19th century. It remains the commercial centre of this city after the departure of European interests following the Second World War.
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| Shanghai in the 1930s |
By 1932, Shanghai had become the world's fifth largest city and home to 70,000 foreigners. However, the Japanese captured Shanghai on January 28, 1932, as they invaded China. Shanghai remained occupied until Japan's surrender in 1945, during which time many war crimes were committed.
Between 1933 and 1941, Shanghai accepted unconditionally over 18,000 Jewish people escaping Europe during World War II. This was more than Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and British India combined.
Several Jews fled Germany to Shanghai before the outbreak of the Second World War as it was the only city in the world you could legally land without a visa.
With the Communist Party's takeover of the mainland in 1949, trade was limited to other socialist countries, and Shanghai's global influence declined.
In the 1990s, the economic reforms introduced by Deng Xiaoping resulted in an intense re-development of Shanghai, aiding the return of finance and foreign investment to the city.
Shanghai has a subway system with 7 million daily riders. The metro in this port city opened in 1995.
A $12.5 million theme park based on Hans Christian Andersen's tales and life opened in Shanghai at the end of 2006.
FUN SHANGHAI FACTS
The 2010 census put Shanghai's total population at 23,019,148. More people live in Shanghai than in all of Australia, but Shanghai is physically about half the size of Sydney, Australia.
Mission: Impossible III dropped a shot of Shanghai clothes lines from the Chinese cut because it made China look like a developing country.
Shanghai is sinking by about 1.5 centimeters a year due to the weight of rapid building expansion on what was once a drained swamp.
Famous buildings include the Jade Buddha temple, the former home of the revolutionary Sun Yat-Sen; The City God Temple or Temple of the City Gods, a folk temple located in the old city of Shanghai, which is the site of the veneration of three Chinese figures honored as the city gods of the town; the Yu Garden, an extensive Chinese garden located beside the City God Temple: and the house, museum and tomb of the writer Lu Fun.
Another tourist attraction is the house where the first national Congress of the Communist Party of China met secretly in 1921. It is a typical shikumen building in the former French Concession (see below).
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| SBy http://www.flickr.com/photos/verkhovensky/ - |
The Shanghai Tower is a 632-metre (2,073 ft), 128-story megatall skyscraper. It is the world's tallest building, by height to highest usable floor (Observation Deck Level 121: 561.25m). It also has the world's fastest elevators at a top speed of 20.5 m/s (74 km/h; 46 mph).
Pupils in Shanghai spend more than 14 hours a week doing homework. In the UK it is 4.9 hours.
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