This past week I have been exploring the streets of Shanghai. One of my cousins from Mexico recently moved to the city so he has been telling me all the places I must see. Shanghai is truly a state of the art city and I find it to be incredibly fascinating. Shanghai is the most populous city proper in the world with a population of more than 24 million. It is a global financial center and transport hub, with the world’s busiest container port. International attention to Shanghai grew in the 19th century due to European recognition of its economic and trade potential at the Yangtze. During the First Opium War in the mid 1800s, British forces occupied the city. Britain, France, and the United States all carved out concessions outside the walled city of Shanghai, which was still ruled by the Chinese. Shanghai is now the commercial and financial center of mainland China, in September 2013 the city launched the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free-Trade Zone-the first free-trade zone in mainland China. In the last two decades Shanghai has been one of the fastest developing cities in the world.
Shanghai has an extensive public transport system, largely based on metros, buses and taxis. The metro system currently has 16 lines with an end goal of 21 lines and is the longest network in the world. The city has a rich collection of buildings and structures of various architectural styles. The Shanghai Bund, located by the bank of the Huangpu River, contains a collection of early 20th-century architecture, ranging in style from neoclassical to art deco. The Bund has dozens of historical buildings, lining the Huangpu River, that once housed numerous banks and trading houses from the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Italy, Russia, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, and Belgium, as well as the consulates of Russia and Britain. Across the river, the Shanghai Tower, completed in 2015, is the tallest building in China. As of 2016, it is the world’s second-tallest building by height to architectural top, the world’s tallest building by height to highest usable floor, and the world’s third-tallest structure. The 2,074 feet-tall skyscraper has installed a ground-breaking Mitsubishi elevator that travels at an incredible of 67 ft/s or 3,540 ft per minute – the equivalent of 40.3 mi per hour! The Oriental Pearl Tower is a T.V. tower looking like it belongs in Epcot and is 1,535 ft tall and was completed in 1994. The inner sphere is a recreational palace, while the Municipal History Museum is located in the tower’s pedestal. The large lower sphere has a futuristic space city and a sightseeing hall. From here, on a clear day you can see all the way to the Yangtze River. The base is home to a science fantasy city. The five smaller spheres are a hotel that contains twenty-five elegant rooms and lounges. The pearl at the very top contains shops, restaurants, (including a rotating restaurant) and a sightseeing floor.
Shanghai is a center for innovation and progress, it is really a city that must be put on your list!
魏伊俐 (Wei Yi Li – Elizabeth)
Family and friends.
My cousin from Mexico.
Pudong’s skyline during the day and at night, the Pearl Tower on the left and the Shanghai tower on the right.
The Pearl Tower.
The Shanghai Tower.
The International Financial District.
The Bund.
The Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center Museum.
The centerpiece of the exhibition is a huge scale model of the city of Shanghai, showing all existing and approved buildings.
The map of the metro system on a ceiling in the Exhibition Center.
Felt like home with Hershey’s Chocolate!
