How to learn and introduce Shanghai City in English?(Copy)

[size=3]Shanghai (; pinyin: ; Shanghainese: ), situated on the banks of the Yangtze River Delta in East China, is the largest city of the People's Republic of China. Widely regarded as the citadel of China's modern economy, the city also serves as one of the most important cultural, commercial, financial, industrial and communications centers of China. Administratively, Shanghai is a municipality of the People's Republic of China that has province-level status. Shanghai is also one of the world's busiest ports, and became the largest cargo port in the world in 2005 List of the busiest ports in the world.
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Originally a sleepy fishing town, Shanghai became China's most important city by the 20th century and was the centre of popular culture, vice, intellectual discourse and political intrigue during the Republic of China. Shanghai once became the third largest financial centre in the world, ranking after New York City and London, and the largest commercial city in the Far East in the late 19th century and early 20th century. After the communist takeover in 1949, Shanghai languished under heavy central government taxation and much of its bourgeois elements were purged. Following the central government's authorization of market-economic redevelopment of Shanghai in 1992, Shanghai quickly surpassed early-starters Shenzhen and Guangzhou, and has since led China's economic growth. Some challenges remain for Shanghai at the beginning of the 21st century, as the city struggles to cope with increased worker migration, and a huge wealth gap. However, these challenges aside, Shanghai's skyscrapers and modern lifestyle mark the pinnacle of China's recent economic development.[/size]

Origin of name

[size=3]The two Chinese characters in the name "Shanghai" (see left) literally mean "on" and "sea". The local Shanghainese pronunciation of Shanghai is , while the Standard Mandarin pronunciation in Hanyu Pinyin is Sh?¡ì?¨¨ngh?¡ì?i. The earliest occurrence of this name dates from the Song Dynasty (11th century), at which time there was already a river confluence and a town with this name in the area. There are disputes as to how the name should be interpreted, but official local histories have consistently said that it means "the upper reaches of the sea" (???????¡§?). However, another reading, especially in Mandarin, also suggests the sense of "go onto the sea," which is consistent with the seaport status of the city. The more poetic name for Shanghai switches the order of the two characters, i.e., Haishang (????), and is often used for terms related to Shanghainese art and culture. In the West, Shanghai has also been spelled Schanghai (in German), Sjanghai (in Dutch), Xangai (in Portuguese) and Changhaï (in French), but since the 1990s the Hanyu Pinyin spelling of "Shanghai" has become universal in the West. In Japanese, Shanghai is written using the same two Chinese characters (????), and the Japanese pronunciation Shanhai   (??¡è???¡§?????¨¨) is an approximate of the Mandarin pronunciation.
0mx9~WDJid ?Ur Shanghai's abbreviations in Chinese are H?¡ì? (??) and Sh?¡ì?n (?¡§?). The former is derived from the ancient name Hu Du (????) of the river now known as Suzhou Creek. The latter is derived from the name of Chunshen Jun (???¡§???), a nobleman of the Chu Kingdom (???¡§?) in the 3rd century B.C. whose territory included the Shanghai area and has locally been revered as a hero. Sports teams and newspapers in Shanghai often use the character Sh?¡ì?n (?¡§?) in their names. Shanghai is also commonly called Sh?¡ì?nch?¡ì?ng (?¡§???, "City of Sh?¡ì?n")..T s)o(_.{n+J$X
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t6n#r Fa The city has had various nicknames in English, including "Paris of the East", "Queen of the Orient", "Pearl of the Orient", and even "The Whore of Asia" (a reference to corruption in the 1920s and 1930s, including vice, drugs and prostitution).7~Ml9E"N-h(vO
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2. 1. Pre-19th century history

[size=3]Before the formation of Shanghai city, Shanghai was part of Songjiang county (?????h), governed by Suzhou prefecture (?K????). From the time of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Shanghai gradually became a busy seaport, outgrowing its political jurisdictions (for instance, Songjiang (????) today is one of 18 districts within Shanghai).0Nqn4NAfS
A city wall was built in AD 1553, which is generally regarded as the beginning of the city of Shanghai. Before the 19th century, Shanghai was not a major city, so in contrast to other major Chinese cities today, there are fewer ancient Chinese landmarks to be found in Shanghai. However, the few cultural landmarks in Shanghai are very ancient and typically date to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history, because present-day Shanghai is within the historic cultural center of the Wu Kingdom (222-280).
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During the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty, Shanghai became an important port regionally for the Yangtze and Huangpu rivers and a sea port for the nearby Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, although overseas commerce was still forbidden at that time. Wujiaochang (??????), now in Yangpu District, and the areas nearby already formed the foundation of the city centre. In the later years of the Qianlong era, Shiliupu (???¡§???), now in Huangpu District, was already the largest port in East Asia.[/size]

2. 2. 19th to early 20th century history

[size=3]The importance of Shanghai grew radically in the 19th century, as the city's strategic position at the mouth of the Yangtze River made it an ideal location for trade with the West.
h5I&e|5F7Y,e2} During the First Opium War in the early-19th century, British forces temporarily held Shanghai. The war ended with the 1842 Treaty of Nanjing, which saw the treaty ports, Shanghai included, opened for international trade. The Treaty of the Bogue signed in 1843, and the Sino-American Treaty of Wangsia signed in 1844 together saw foreign nations achieve extraterritoriality on Chinese soil, which officially lasted until 1943 but was essentially defunct by the late 1930s. From the twenties to the late 30s Shanghai was a so-called 'sin city'. Gangsters wielded a great deal of power and ran casinos and brothels.T-pG} rE
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The Taiping Rebellion broke out in 1850, and in 1853 Shanghai was occupied by a triad offshoot of the rebels, called the Small Swords Society. The fighting destroyed the countryside but left the foreigners' settlements untouched, and Chinese arrived seeking refuge. Although previously Chinese were forbidden to live in foreign settlements, 1854 saw new regulations drawn up making land available to Chinese. Land prices rose substantially.:ojX*Sw3xItM
1854 also saw the first annual meeting of the Shanghai Municipal Council, created in order to manage the foreign settlements. In 1863, the British settlement, located along the western bank of the Huangpu river to the south of Suzhou creek (Huangpu district), and American settlement, located on the western bank of the Huangpu river and to the north of Suzhou creek (Hankou district) joined in order to form the International Settlement. The French opted out of the Shanghai Municipal Council, and instead maintained its own French Concession, located to the west of the International Settlement. This period saw a large influx of migrants from Europe and North America, who called themselves "Shanghighlanders".-YPfRO"C
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The Sino-Japanese War fought 1894-95 over control of Korea concluded with the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which saw Japan emerge as an additional foreign power in Shanghai. Japan built the first factories in Shanghai, which were soon copied by other foreign powers to effect the emergence of Shanghai industry.
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Shanghai was then the biggest financial city in the Far East. Under the Republic of China, Shanghai was made a special city in 1927, and a municipality in May 1930. The Japanese Navy bombed Shanghai on January 28, 1932, nominally in an effort to crush down Chinese student protests of the Manchurian Incident and the subsequent Japanese occupation. The Chinese fought back in what was known as the January 28 Incident. The two sides fought to a standstill and a ceasefire was brokered in May. In the Second Sino-Japanese War, the city fell after the Battle of Shanghai in 1937, and was occupied until Japan's surrender in 1945.[/size]

2. 2. 1. During World War II history

[size=3]Chinese Nationalist defenders during the 1937 Battle of Shanghai against the invading Japanese army, start of full-scale war.g f8jVs
During World War II, Shanghai was a centre for refugees from Europe. It was the only city in the world that was open unconditionally to the Jews at the time. However, under pressure from their Nazi allies, the Japanese ghettoised the Jewish refugees in late 1941 in what came to be known as the Shanghai ghetto, and hunger and infectious diseases such as amoebic dysentery became rife.[/size]

2. 3. Communist rule history

[size=3]On May 27, 1949, Shanghai came under communist control and was one of the only two former Republic of China (ROC) municipalities not merged into neighbouring provinces over the next decade (the other being Beijing). It underwent a series of changes in the boundaries of its subdivisions, especially in the next decade.V-Q S M3}k
After the communist takeover in 1949, most foreign firms moved their offices from Shanghai to Hong Kong. During the 1950s and 1960s, Shanghai became an industrial center and center for revolutionary leftism. Yet, even during the most tumultuous times of the Cultural Revolution, Shanghai was able to maintain high economic productivity and relative social stability. In most of the history of the People's Republic of China (PRC), Shanghai has been the largest contributor of tax revenue to the central government compared with other Chinese provinces and municipalities. This came at the cost of severely crippling Shanghai's infrastructure and capital development. Its importance to China's fiscal well-being also denied it economic liberalizations that were started in the far southern provinces such as Guangdong during the mid-1980s. At that time Guangdong province paid nearly no taxes to the central government, and thus was perceived as fiscally expendable for experimental economic reforms. Shanghai was not permitted to initiate economic reforms until 1991.
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Political power in Shanghai has traditionally been seen as a stepping stone to higher positions within the PRC central government.In the 1990s, there was what was often described as the politically right-of-center "Shanghai clique," which included the president of the PRC Jiang Zemin and the premier of the PRC Zhu Rongji. Starting in 1992, the central government under Jiang Zemin, a former Mayor of Shanghai, began reducing the tax burden on Shanghai and encouraging both foreign and domestic investment in order to promote it as the economic hub of East Asia and to encourage its role as gateway of investment to the Chinese interior. Since then it has experienced continuous economic growth of between 9?¡ìC15% annually.[/size]

3. 1. Politics

[size=3]Shanghai has been a political hub of China for many years. Many of China's top government officials in Beijing are known to have risen in Shanghai in the 1980s on a platform that was critical of the extreme leftism of the Cultural Revolution, giving them the tag "Shanghai Clique" during the 1990s. Many observers of Chinese politics view the more right-leaning Shanghai Clique as an opposing and competing faction of the current Chinese administration under Hu Jintao. Shanghai's top jobs, the Party Chief and the position of Mayor, has always been prominent on a national scale. Four Shanghai mayors eventually went on to take prominent Central Government positions, including former President Jiang Zemin and former Premier Zhu Rongji. The top administrative jobs are always appointed directly by the Central Government.
XD X+A:B3X-u?i The current Shanghai government under Mayor Han Zheng has openly advocated transparency in the city's government. However, in previous years a complicated system of relationships between Shanghai's government, banks, and other civil institutions have been under scrutiny for corruption, motivated by politics in Beijing; these allegations from Beijing have mostly gone nowhere.[/size]

3. 2. Administration

[size=3]Shanghai is administratively equal to a province and is divided into 19 county-level divisions: 18 districts and 1 county. There is no single downtown district in Shanghai, the urban core is scattered across several districts. Prominent central business areas include Lujiazui on the east bank of the Huangpu River, and The Bund and Hongqiao areas in the west bank of the Huangpu River. The city hall and major administration units are located in Huangpu District, which also serve as a commercial area, including the famous Nanjing Road. Other major commercial areas include the classy Xintiandi and Huaihai Road in Luwan district and Xujiahui in Xuhui District. Many universities in Shanghai are located in residential areas of Yangpu District and Putuo District.)FGFU'v\vz0K+o
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Nine of the districts govern Puxi (literally West Bank), or the older part of urban Shanghai on the west bank of the Huangpu River. These nine districts are collectively referred to as Shanghai Proper (????????) or the core city (??????):
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Luwan District (?????? L?¡ì?w?¡ì?n Q?¡ì??)
u\C` lFk m(i,F Xuhui District (?¡§????? X?¡ì?hu?¡ì? Q?¡ì??) e"}(U
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Changning District (??¨¨???? Ch?¡ì?ngn?¡ì?ng Q?¡ì??) f;yaw o
Jing'an District (??????? J?¡ì?ng'?¡ì?n Q?¡ì??)
3I'C8u"X;gXd!lRVQ Putuo District (?????? P?¡ì?tu?¡ì? Q?¡ì??)
x$jc` R"g9I` Zhabei District (???????? Zh?¡ì?b?¡ì?¨¬i Q?¡ì??)
(PW0d5V"nZ6c1x Hongkou District (?????? H?¡ì?ngk?¡ì?u Q?¡ì??)
p ]h:h'X3D:j(Y:R5m Yangpu District (?????? Y?¡ì?ngp?¡ì? Q?¡ì??) q9h6c Us

b9@9P8q+f R W? Pudong (East Bank), or the newer part of urban and suburban Shanghai on the east bank of the Huangpu River, is governed by:IKm {Ptm9a
Pudong New District (???????? P?¡ì?d?¡ì?ng X?¡ì?n Q?¡ì??) - Chuansha County until 1992
a3I-Zl6x){!a:f3`9P Eight of the districts govern suburbs, satellite towns, and rural areas further away from the urban core:

O']h'Dc5h|*m Baoshan District (??????? B?¡ì?osh?¡ì?n Q?¡ì??) - Baoshan County until 1988 E u&o IO7mK f+E
Minhang District (?????? M?¡ì?nh?¡ì?ng Q?¡ì??) - Shanghai County until 1992
0xbBTa d~h Jiading District (????¡ì?? Ji?¡ì?d?¡ì?ng Q?¡ì??) - Jiading County until 1992
Tl~,M)@l Jinshan District (?????? J?¡ì?nsh?¡ì?n Q?¡ì??) - Jinshan County until 1997
4KO8o?;}:X| } Songjiang District (?????? S?¡ì?ngji?¡ì?ng Q?¡ì??) - Songjiang County until 1998 +] N`.jL8B^
Qingpu District (?¡§¡è???? Q?¡ì?ngp?¡ì? Q?¡ì??) - Qingpu County until 1999
!{"H6nc4O T/N Nanhui District (?????? N?¡ì?nhu?¡ì? Q?¡ì??) - Nanhui County until 2001 +t&j%~(Ju[.ZY[
Fengxian District (?¡è????? F?¡ì?¡ìngxi?¡ì?n Q?¡ì??) - Fengxian County until 2001[/size]

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4. Economy and demographics

[size=3]Shanghai is often regarded as the center of finance and trade in mainland China. Modern development began with economic reforms in 1992, a decade later than many of the Southern Chinese provinces. Prior to then, much of the city's tax revenue went directly to the capital, Beijing, with little return. Even with a decreased tax burden after 1992, Shanghai's tax contribution to the central government is around 20-25% of the national total (Shanghai's annual tax burden pre-1990s was on average 70% of the national total). Shanghai today is still the most populous and well developed city in mainland China.
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The 2000 census put the population of Shanghai Municipality to 16.738 million, including the floating population, which made up 3.871 million. Since the 1990 census the total population has increased by 3.396 million, or 25.5%. Males accounted for 51.4%, females for 48.6% of the population. 12.2% were in the age group of 0-14, 76.3% between 15 and 64 and 11.5% were older than 65. 5.4% of the inhabitants were illiterate. As of 2003, the official registered population is 13.42 million; however, more than 5 million more people work and live in Shanghai undocumented, and of the 5 million, some 4 million belong to the floating population of temporary migrant workers, a large proportion of whom are from Anhui Province as well as Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces. The average life expectancy in 2003 was 79.80 years, 77.78 for men and 81.81 for women.
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r qu| D,g | Shanghai and Hong Kong have had a recent rivalry over which city is to be the economic center of China. The city had a GDP of ¥46,586 (ca. US$ 5,620) per capita in 2003, ranked no. 13 among all 659 Chinese cities. Hong Kong on the other hand, possessed an unparalleled GDP of ¥310,021 (ca. US$ 37,400). Hong Kong has the advantage of a stronger legal system, international market integration, superior economic freedom, greater banking and service expertise. Shanghai has stronger links to both the Chinese interior and the central government, in addition to a stronger base in manufacturing and technology. Shanghai has increased its role in finance, banking, and as a major destination for corporate headquarters, fueling demand for a highly educated and modernized workforce. Shanghai has recorded a double-digit growth for 14 consecutive years since 1992. In 2005, Shanghai's nominal GDP posted an 11.1% growth to 912.5 billion yuan (US$114 billion).
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As in many other areas in China, Shanghai is undergoing a building boom. In Shanghai the modern architecture is notable for its unique style, especially in the highest floors, with several top floor restaurants which resemble flying saucers. For a gallery of these unique architecure designs, see Shanghai (architecture images).;ap^J-?:SF#b4k

sYUGC,H The bulk of Shanghai buildings being constructed today are high-rise apartments of various height, color and design. There is now a strong focus by city planners to develop more "green areas" (public parks) among the apartment complexes in order to increase the quality of life for Shanghai's residents, quite in accordance to the "Better City - Better Life" theme of Shanghai's Expo 2010.
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.b6E7~:Bdw Historically very Western in lifestyle, Shanghai is increasingly a critical center of communication with the Western world. Examples include the opening of the Pac-Med Medical Exchange in June of 2004, a clearinghouse of medical data and a link between the Chinese and westernized medical infrastructures. In medicine and other humanitarian fields, China is actively seeking input of first world nations to improve living conditions and trade status. Arguments for and against modern Chinese leadership question the genuine influence the influx of western culture and technology will have on vast Chinese interior, outside of the densely populated, often visited urban centres. The Pudong district of Shanghai contains contemporary architecture and "modern"-feeling districts, in close proximity to major international trade and hospitality zones. Visitors to Shanghai find free public parks manicured to startling perfection; in distinct contrast to the massive industrial installations which reveal China's emerging environmental concerns. Shanghai's international diversity is perhaps the world's foremost window into the rich, historic and complex society of today's China.[/size]
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5. Geography and climate

[size=3]Shanghai faces the East China Sea (part of the Pacific Ocean), and is bisected by the Huangpu River. Puxi contains the city proper on the western side of Huangpu River, while an entirely new financial district has been erected on the eastern bank of the Huangpu in Pudong.OD1c
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w[$yYU9e3b7W*w Shanghai experiences all four seasons, with freezing temperatures during the winter season and a 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit) average high during the hottest months of July and August. Temperatures extremes of -10C (14F) and +41C (105F) have been recorded. Heavy rain is frequent in early summer. Spring starts in March, summer in June, autumn in September and winter in December. The weather in spring, although considered the most beautiful season, is highly variable, with frequent rain and alternating spells of warmth and cold. Summer is the peak tourist season, but is hot and oppressive, as the humidity makes it almost impossible for people not used to the environment to breathe properly. Clothes tend to get fairly wet after minutes of walking. Autumn is generally sunny and dry, and the foliage season is in November. Winters are typically grey and dreary, with no snowfall. The city has a few Typhoon spells during the year, none of which in recent years have caused considerable damage.[/size]

6. Media

[size=3]Shanghai is served by television and radio stations that are owned and operated by the Shanghai Media Group. The list of radio stations are shown as follows:
Q T?]X t Shanghai Television Stations:
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China Business Network $cY`j:Vf
STV-News
"Ly uX"Tp7`y STV-Life&Fashion
J.Xgb9v STV-TV Drama
o*GTS0`Na STV-Sports
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[/A2H_ STV-Documentary
&dP6B9]$U;{ e OTV-News&Entertainment
!W-M0Vv6M*k%n OTV-Arts %] }4]NkN'k(u
OTV-Music s1R%^,YZ
OTV-Drama + Oriental CJ Shopping
OSw$Z%G#Z _ S OTV-Kids ph*a&u+To1[-z
Eastern Movie
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Also, CCTV serves as the national network.lH ZU \g7u
Shanghai Radio Stations
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648 AM  Traffic 0N)idy]
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S#d{8[Pj9t 1296 AM   Eastern China Regional News
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101.7 FM  Popular Music U1ZcY \$wk;V

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103.7 FM   Love Music
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$aY;V*t| 94.7 FM   Classical Music yY!p*Sg:u7F|0s

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#I1z-ixv!Kp*Z6]uu 97.7 FM   Economic/Business News ,r?MuM!y\i Dc

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96.8 FM   Comedy Channel
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1197 AM    Marine Channel
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XI|CCP 94.0 FM    Sports News[/size]

7. Transportation

[size=3]Shanghai has an extensive public transportation system, largely based on buses, and a rapidly expanding metro system. For a city of Shanghai's size, road traffic is fairly smooth and convenient.
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Shanghai has two airports: Hongqiao and Pudong International, which has the second highest (combined) traffic in China, following Hong Kong International Airport. In cooperation with the Shanghai municipality and the Shanghai Maglev Transportation Development Co. (SMT), German Transrapid constructed the first commercial maglev railway in the world in 2002, from Shanghai's Longyang Road subway station to Pudong International Airport. Commercial operation started in 2003. The 30km trip takes 7 minutes and 21 seconds and reaches a maximum speed of 431 km/h (267.8 miles per hour).
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b"vV,W.]tQ-` As of December 2005, Shanghai's port, including the newly opened Yangshan deep water port (?¡§?????????), is the largest in the world. What is currently longest cross-sea bridge of the world, the Donghai Bridge (?????¡§???) with a total length 32.5km, links Shanghai on the mainland to the Yangshan islands.9ZsE8[g0x
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Two railways intersect in Shanghai: Jinghu Railway (Beijing-Shanghai) Railway passing through Nanjing (??????), and Shanghai-Hangzhou Railway (?????? Hu Hang Line). Shanghai has two main railway stations, Shanghai Railway Station and Shanghai South Railway Station. A maglev train route to Hangzhou (Shanghai-Hangzhou Maglev Train ???????¡§?????) will begin construction in 2006 and is planned to be finished in 2008. A high-speed railroad to Beijing is also in the works. More than six national expressways (prefixed with "G") from Beijing and from the region around Shanghai connect to the city. Shanghai itself has six toll-free elevated expressways (skyways) in the urban core and 18 municipal expressways (prefixed with "A"). There are ambitious plans to build expressways connecting Shanghai's Chongming Island with the urban core.
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8. 1. Language

[size=3]The vernacular language is Shanghainese, a dialect of Wu Chinese; while the official language is Standard Mandarin. The local dialect is mutually unintelligible with Mandarin, and is an inseparable part of the Shanghainese identity. The Shanghainese dialect today is a mixture of standard Wu Chinese as spoken in Suzhou, with the dialects of Ningbo and other nearby regions whose peoples have migrated to Shanghai in large numbers since the 20th Century.
:Yp/~vK(`"nhL Nearly all Shanghainese under the age of 40 can speak Mandarin fluently. Fluency in foreign languages is unevenly distributed. Most senior residents who received a university education before the revolution, and those who worked in foreign enterprises, can speak English. Those under the age of 26 have had contact with English since primary school, as English is taught as a mandatory course starting at Grade 1.[/size]

8. 2. 1. Songjiang School and Huating School art

[size=3]Songjiang School (??????) is a small painting school during the Ming Dynasty. It is commomnly considered as a further development of the Wu School, or Wumen School (????????), in the then cultural center of the region, Suzhou. Huating School (????¨¨??) was another important art school during the middle to late Ming Dynasty. Its main achievements were in traditional Chinese painting, calligraphy and poetry, and especially famous for its Renwen painting (??????). Dong Qichang (??????) is one of the masters from this school.[/size]

8. 2. 2. Shanghai School

[size=3]The Shanghai School (???????? Haishang Huapai or ???? Haipai) is a very important Chinese school of traditional arts during the Qing Dynasty and the whole of 20th century. Under efforts of masters from this school, traditional Chinese art reached another climax and continued to the present in forms of the "Chinese painting" (???¡§???) or guohua (?¡§???) for short. The Shanghai School challenged and broke the literati tradition of Chinese art, while also paying technical homage to the ancient masters and improving on existing traditional techniques. Members of this school were themselves educated literati who had come to question their very status and the purpose of art, and had anticipated the impending modernization of Chinese society. In an era of rapid social change, works from the Shanghai School were widely innovative and diverse, and often contained thoughtful yet subtle social commentary. The most well-known figures from this school are Ren Xiong (????), Ren Yi (?????¡§?), Zhao Zhiqian (??????), Wu Changshuo (??????), Sha Menghai (??????, calligraphist), Pan Tianshou (???¡§???), Fu Baoshi (?????¨¬??).[/size]

8. 3. Modern China

[size=3]Because of Shanghai's status as the cultural and economic center of East Asia for the first half of the twentieth century, it is popularly seen as the birthplace of everything considered modern in China. It was in Shanghai, for example, that the first motor car was driven and the first train tracks and modern sewers were laid. It was also the intellectual battleground between socialist writers who concentrated on critical realism (pioneered by Lu Xun and Mao Dun) and the more "bourgeois", more romantically and aesthetically inclined writers (such as Shi Zhecun, Shao Xunmei, Ye Lingfeng, Eileen Chang).
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Besides literature, Shanghai was also the birthplace of Chinese cinema & theater. China??s first short film, The Difficult Couple (Nanfu nanqi, 1913), and the country??s first fictional feature film, Orphan Rescues Grandfather (Gu'er jiu zuji, 1923) were both produced in Shanghai. These two films were very influential, and established Shanghai as the center of Chinese film-making. Shanghai??s film industry went on to blossom during the early Thirties, generating Marilyn Monroe-like stars such as Zhou Xuan. Another film star, Jiang Qing, went on to become Madame Mao Zedong. The talent and passion of Shanghainese filmmakers following World War II and the Communist Revolution contributed enormously to the development of the Hong Kong film industry.$IfP!x1C(| H


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F+p(bz'V Much of Shanghainese popular culture ("Shanghainese Pops") were transferred to Hong Kong by the numerous Shanghainese emigrants and refugees after the Communist Revolution. The movie In the Mood for Love (Huayang nianhua) directed by Wong Kar-wai (a native Shanghainese himself) depicts one slice of the displaced Shanghainese community in Hong Kong and the nostalgia for that era, featuring 1940s music by Zhou Xuan.[/size]

8. 4. Popular stereotypes

[size=3]Shanghainese people have often been stereotyped by other Chinese (both urban and rural) as being materialistic, pretentious, and disdainful of provincials; and at the same time, however, they are admired for their meticulous attention to detail, faithfulness in contract, professionalism, and style. It is a belief of many Chinese from other provinces of China that Shanghainese men can be very henpecked (nagged or controlled by their wives). According to some, there is truth in the opinion. Husbands in Shanghai often simultaneously play the roles of a bread-winner, father, cook, plumber, carpenter, etc. Interestingly, this view, though somewhat outmoded in the context of the new century, is still one of the first things many people think of at the mention of Shanghai.[/size]

8. 5. People of other provinces

[size=3]Only very few residents are descended from original inhabitants of the old walled city. Nearly all registered Shanghainese residents are descendants of immigrants from the two adjacent provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang who moved to Shanghai in the late 19th and the early 20th Century. These are regions that generally speak the same family of dialects as Shanghainese - Wu Chinese. Much of pre-modern Shanghainese culture is an integration of cultural elements from these two regions. The Shanghainese dialect reflects this as well.$C(ur^[s
Despite this heterogeneous origin to the Shanghainese population, there has been a strong sense of Shanghainese identity, founded upon cultural and economical superiority up until the Revolution. The Revolution was a humbling experience for Shanghai as a whole, as it was brought into line by the Communist regime, whose ideology favoured grass-root agriculture and industry, and opposed bourgeois excesses, which Shanghai stood for in the eyes of many. This led to a spiraling cycle, with the Shanghainese eyeing the rest of the country with disdain as "provincials" (??????; xianwunin in Shanghainese), while the rest of the country thought of the Shanghainese as arrogant and petty.PdG&ApJ

Fo0l(uS9q This has been fuelled in recent times, by migrants from all over China, who do not speak the local dialect and are therefore forced to use Mandarin as a lingua franca. Rising crime rates, littering, harassive panhandling, and an overloading of the basic infrastructure (mainly public transportation, schools) associated with the rise of these migrant populations (over 3 million new migrants in 2003 alone) have been generating some ill will from the Shanghainese. The new migrants are easy to spot by the Shanghainese, and are often targets of both intentional and unintentional discrimination. This further intensifies the misunderstandings and stereotypes between the Shanghainese and the Chinese outside of the Lower Yangtze basin.[/size]

map of shanghai city

[size=2]map of shanghai city in English(N-W7n/~U:|IU

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fH(]C#i3~R VL please visit at: [url=http://www.chinatour.com/maps/shanghaimap.gif]Shanghai Map in English[/url][/size]
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[[i] Last edited by  peter-jetstar at 2006-9-23 09:00 [/i]]