Maze: Shanghai

SHANGHAI MEANS "UP FROM THE SEA."  It is the largest city in China and the second largest city in the world.  It was first settled in 960 A.D.   It was just a small fishing port and market village, but after the Treaty of Nanking in 1842, foreign businessmen came to Shanghai and made it a thriving center of trade and industry.  The United States, France, and Great Britain received sections, called concessions, outside the village for business and homes.   Almost half of China's foreign trade passed through its harbor.  It developed as three cities: International Settlement (British and American combined in 1863), the French Concession or Frenchtown, and the Chinese City.  The International Settlement was open to all nationalities and no single nation controlled it.  A French Consul general administered the French Concession.  A Chinese mayor governed the Chinese City.

Chinese rebels attacked Shanghai the Taiping Rebellion of 1860 and the Boxer Rebellion in 1900.  General Chiang Kai-shek's troops besieged the city in 1927.  The Japanese fought the Chinese in 1932 and destroyed large parts of the Chinese City.  It was rebuilt but destroyed again by the Japanese in 1937.  Japan occupied the city in 1941 until the end of World War II.  During the war the British and the Americans gave up their privileges.  After the surrender of Japan in 1945, the Chinese took over, and the French gave up their concession in 1946.  Shanghai declined after the Communist took over in 1949.

Arriving at Shanghai International Airport after an overnight flight from Chicago

At the hotel our tour group had a meeting with our guide

Modern Shanghai

The Nanking Road separates the skyscrapers from the Peoples' Park

China's largest banks lined the city's waterfront, called the Bund, hotels and office buildings give it a modern skyline.  The International Settlement was built along the Whangpoo River.  The French Concession has many fine residencies, smaller office buildings and shops.  The municipality of Greater Shanghai, incorporated in 1928, surrounded the International Settlement and French Concession.

Shanghai lies on the bank of Whangpoo River, in the Kiangsu Province, about 14 miles above the place where the river empties into the Yangtze River.  Constant dredging keeps the harbor deep enough for ocean vessels.


View of the city at sunset from the hotel

Across our hotel is a gymnasium for Olympic hopefuls and grocery stores.

 Amazing thousand highrises for million Chinese.

The busy Bund


Shanghai Museum

Yu Yuan Garden (Old Shanghai)

Textiles account for about two fifths of the city's manufactures.  Other industries include cement, soap, publishing, ship-building, and sugar refining.

A visit to a local market

 Fashion show at a Senior Citizen Center

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6/12/10  lib's labyrinth blogspot

11/2006  ALT  MSN Group