April 18, Sunday
Shanghai is one of the most extraordinary cities in the world. It has a population of over 15 million people and a short but vibrant history. It was a small fishing village until after the Opium Wars it was established as one of the Treaty Ports in the mid 19th century. It grew under the influence of the British, French, American and German Concessions to become one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Asia by the 1930s. It was known as the Paris of the East with a wild reputation of parties, prostitutes, jazz until the Japanese took over in 1938. When the communists won the Civil War in 1949, Shanghai fell into a poor state as it was ignored by the Central Government. In the mid-1980s, the government decided to resurrect Shanghai and poured resources into it. It quickly regained its former status and now is one of the most vibrant, sophisticated cities in the world. It is the financial capital of China; it is the fashion capital of China; it probably has the finest creative architecture in the world.
The buildings on either shore of the Huangpu River demonstrate the architectural diversity.
There is the "Bund" which is the traditional European west riverfront with buildings from the Concession heyday of the late 19th to early 20th centuries:
The Bund at nite:
Along the east riverfront is Pudong:
at nite:
Two of the 5 tallest buildings in the world:
These buildings have video advertising constantly running:
And Pudong was nothing but swamps and farms before 1990 !!!!!! All this was built in the last 20 years!!
As you can see the city literally comes alive at nite with some of the most extraordinary lighting.
This is the view from my hotel room window:
I spent 5 days in Shanghai. The weather was not good as we had rain, fog and clouds 3-4 of those days. But at nite it is amazing.
I spent part of 2 rainy days in the French Concession. It is the area that has best maintained its character from the early part of the last century. It has lovely, quiet tree lined streets with old residences and villas that have been turned into restaurants and shops. I went to an interesting Yunnan restaurant that was wonderful and an Italian restaurant that had the best spaghetti bolognese that I have eaten.
The Concessions are an interesting part of Chinese history. The Qing Dynasty by the 19th Century was weak and corrupt so it was beaten handily in the Opium Wars and forced to sign the humiliating Treaty of Nanjing in 1842. This allowed the Western powers to set up "concessions" in several coastal cities and cities in the interior on the Yangtze River (such as Wuhan). Hong Kong was also ceded to Great Britain in this Treaty.
The concessions established areas that were independent of Chinese rule and were subject to the laws of the foreign country; some also set up separate electric and sewage systems as well as police. An actual piece of the foreign country in the midst of a Chinese territory!
