In a country with roughly five millennia of continuous history under its belt, Shanghai is a relative newcomer. During the first few centuries of its existence it was a mere fishing village. It wasn't until the year 1074 under the Song Dynasty that it was promoted to "market town" status. And it took almost another millenium before the newly-established Republican government would finally own up and call it a "city" in 1927. Before then, it had a lowly designation as "county seat" for the Songjiang Prefecture. Semantics aside, though, Shanghai didn't really rise to the fore until the 19th century, when the Treaty of Nanjing forcibly opened its ports up to international trade and foreign settlements. It was no doubt a humiliating stain on the dignity of one of the world's great civilizations. Nevertheless, with trade came an unprecedented prosperity which reached its apex in the 1920s and 30s. When the Communists defeated the Kuomintang in1949, they realigned China's trade relations with other communist nations. Shanghai faded from the global scene. It wasn't until the 1980s with Deng Xiaoping's ascent to power and his resultant reforms that Shanghai would again become a player on the world stage.

 

Night Scene	Xiao Long Bao	Nearby Water Towns
City God Temple of Shanghai	Shanghai World Financial Center	Nanjing Road
Jade Buddha Temple	Yuyuan Garden	The Bund