The establishment of Shanghai city began from the Yuan Dynasty in l291, "Shanghai County" was formally established then. During the Ming Dynasty, Shanghai became famous for the "Southeast famous county", shops and restaurants are everywhere.
On l840, the eve of the Opium War, with 63 streets in there, the county was called "the access of river and sea, the great city of the southeast."
After the Opium War, the Qing Dynasty government signed with Britain the "Nanjing Treaty", Shanghai on 1843-11-17 was forced to open to the world. In the next hundred years, the imperialist powers scrambled to establish settlements in Shanghai. First, the United Kingdom in 1845 established Concession in Shanghai, followed by the United States and France. Later, the concessions of Britain and the United States were referred to as "the International Settlement".
In 1846, foreigners began the construction of a road on the reedy wasteland beside Huangpu River from today's Waibaidu Bridge to East Jinling Road, the road was called "The Bund", in Chinese it was called "Waitan". On the Bund 24 tall buildings of various styles were established, the progressive development of the Bund made it become the "Far East's First Finance Street", attracting worldwide attention then.
The Chinese Communist Party was born in Shanghai and held its first National Congress on July 1, 1921.
On May 28, 1949, The Shanghai People's Government was established.
During the 1950s to 1980s, as the country's important industrial base, Shanghai was the largest contributor of tax revenue to the central government in China.
Since the late 1980s, Shanghai has launched new series of major construction projects, including: Pudong New Area, suburban counties upgraded to urban districts, Pudong International Airport, three-dimensional urban transport systems, highways, high-speed railways, 14 tunnels crossing Huangpu River, 10 bridges on Huangpu River, the East China Sea Bridge, the Yangtze River Crossing Bridge, 13 metro lines, maglev train line, more than 4,000 buildings whose height exceed 20 storeys, Expo Area, the Wild Animal Park, Gulf National Park, F1 Speedway, Sheshan National Tourist's Resort District, Happy Valley, Oriental Green Land and Grand View Park, etc.
Shanghai now has a population of about 23 million (including permanent residents and temporary residents) and its city area covers 6341 square kilometers with thousands of roads and streets therein.
Of course, the negative side also exists: The high density of cement buildings results in the worse climate of the city. However, it is hard to be perfect in both.
Shanghai is renowned for its human civilized landscapes (such as special buildings, historic buildings and bustling commercial streets) rather than natural scenery, therefore, people who come to Shanghai seeking natural scenery may be disappointed.
This website represents an overview of Shanghai through a great deal of categorized large pictures accompanied with annotations, so as to help those who have been to and/or have not been to Shanghai to sensually get acquainted with today's Shanghai, its history and its evolution. If you have any comments or suggestions, please write to us. If you like this website, please
bookmark it.
<< Fold
