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HISTORY
Shanghai, China’s most dynamic city, started
out as a coastal fishing community, growing
into an urban trading area during the Tang
Dynasty (618-907). The area initially
prospered as a ship-building and textile
producing city, and became a major shipping
port in the 13th century.
After the Opium Wars (1839-1842), Britain
declared Shanghai a treaty port, and a huge
number of Westerners flocked to the city.
They set up banks and trading companies,
built factories and settled down with their
families. The booming economy drew more
people from all over the world. The British,
French and Americans brought their own
colonial influences to the city, which can
still be seen today in the European
architecture of the buildings on The Bund
and in the Old French Concession area. In
the 19th century, the city became known as
the “Paris of the Orient” due to its
cosmopolitan nature.
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SHANGHAI TODAY
China’s economic reform and opening policy
in the early 1980s – and particularly the
1990 announcement of developing Pudong, a
huge expanse of rural land on the east bank
of the Huangpu River – put Shanghai on the
fast track to growth. Pudong was transformed
from farmlands into a prosperous new
Shanghai, where glossy office towers, grand
hotels, Pudong International Airport,
immense factories of multinational
companies, towering apartments and luxurious
villas define a new cityscape. The local
government is pouring even more money into
improving the city’s infrastructure to
prepare for the World Expo in 2010, which
Shanghai is proudly hosting. Modern and chic
new buildings have been mushrooming in
Shanghai. The breathtaking skyline of
Lujiazui, the city’s financial district in
Pudong, illustrates how Shanghai is on a
fast track to becoming one of the world’s
most glamorous cities.
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