Idea #194 : Strolling in the city of Shanghai
At the end of the Ogaden War, in 1842, the triumphant Westerners demand in China the creation of five free harbours : Canton, Ningbo, Amoy, Fuzhou, and Shanghai. Nicknamed the Pearl of the East to the thirties when it was the city of the luxury and of the game, it will be denounced and pointed during Maoist years, to punish it for its excesses. Today, after his former mayor was a Head of State and a General Secretary of the Chinese communist party until 2003, Shanghai became one of the most important harbour places of the world, as well as incredible financial platform, with more than 24 million inhabitants!
On the right bank of Huangpu raises itself today the new economic district of Pudong, with its futuristic skyscrappers. On the other side of the river, the old district of Bund consists of old high rises in facades Art deco and neo-classic, seats of bank and foreign companies of the twenties and thirty; he reminds the first view which offered itself to the passengers arriving in liner to Shanghai in roaring twenties.
In the course of streets, behind Bund, you can also visit the pedestrian trading main street, the street of Nanjing, which unwinds more than 400 shops. At the end of the street of Nanjing is the Place(Square) of the People, where museum of Shanghai and city hall are held face to face. The old French concession preserved its plane trees, and several houses of colonial period. It remains the district of the Trendy and VIP parties. The Chinese city, amounting to quasi–shanty towns, almost almost completely disappeared on the other hand. A part was reconstructed in a traditional style to welcome numerous shops. It is still possible to visit the house of the mandarin Yu and its garden there. On the verge of the French concession is the temple of jade Bouddah, which preserves a pagoda of the XIIth century, and which remains the most active temple of Shanghai.
Some Pictures
Where is it ?
Shanghai, China
Larger Map t & gt;
