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| Etymology and names | |
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Shanghai
"Shanghai", as written in Chinese
Chinese
上 海
Wu
Zaonhe
Literal meaning
above sea or on sea
Transcriptions
Hakka
- Romanization
Sông-hói
Mandarin
- Hanyu Pinyin
Shànghǎi
Min
- Hokkien POJ
Siōng-hái
- Min-dong BUC
Siông-hāi
Wu
- Romanization
Zaonhe
- Shanghainese
romanization
Zånhae IPA: [z̥ɑ̃̀hé]
Cantonese (Yue)
- Jyutping
soeng6hoi2
The two Chinese characters in the city's name are 上 ("above") and 海 ("sea"), together meaning "Upon-the-Sea". The earliest occurrence of this name dates from the 11th century Song Dynasty, at which time there was already a river confluence and a town with this name in the area. There are disputes as to exactly how the name should be interpreted, but Chinese historians have concluded that during the Tang Dynasty Shanghai was literally on the sea, hence the origin of the name.[16] Older Chinese was written right-to-left, so a reversed order "海上" is sometimes used for terms related to Shanghainese art and culture.[citation needed]
Shanghai is officially abbreviated 沪 (Hù) in Chinese,[17] a contraction of 沪渎 (Hù Dú, lit "Harpoon Ditch"),[18][19] a 4th or 5th century Jin name for the mouth of Suzhou Creek when it was the main conduit into the ocean.[18] This character appears on all motor vehicle license plates issued in the municipality today.
An older name for Shanghai is Shēn (申), from Chunshen Jun (春申君), a nobleman and locally-revered hero of the third-century BC state of Chu. From this, it is also called Shēnchéng (申城, "Shen City").[18] Sports teams and newspapers in Shanghai often use this character in their names.
Another early name for Shanghai was Huating (华亭). In 751 AD, during the mid-Tang Dynasty, Huating County was established at modern-day Songjiang, the first county-level administration within modern-day Shanghai. Today, Huating appears as the name of a four-star hotel in the city.[16]
The city has also has various nicknames in English, including "Paris of the East".[20]
Tags:Chinese,Mandarin,Pinyin,上,海,Hakka,Min,Hokkien,Poj,Min-dong,Wu,Romanization,Cantonese (yue),Jyutping,Chinese Characters,Song Dynasty,Right-to-left,沪,沪渎,Harpoon,Jin,Suzhou Creek,申,Chunshen Jun,春,君,State Of Chu,城,华, | |
| History | |
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Main article: History of Shanghai
The walled Old City of Shanghai during the Ming Dynasty
During the Song Dynasty (AD 960–1279) Shanghai was upgraded in status from a village to a market town in 1074, and in 1172 a second sea wall was built to stabilize the ocean coastline, supplementing an earlier dyke.[21] From the Yuan Dynasty in 1292 until Shanghai officially became a city for the first time in 1927, the area was designated merely as a county seat administered by the Songjiang prefecture.[22]
Two important events helped promote Shanghai's development in the Ming Dynasty. A city wall was built for the first time in 1554 to protect the town from raids by Japanese pirates. It measured 10 metres high and 5 kilometres in circumference.[23] During the Wanli reign (1573–1620), Shanghai received an important psychological boost from the erection of a City God Temple in 1602. This honour was usually reserved for places with the status of a city, such as a prefectural capital not normally given to a mere county town, as Shanghai was. It probably reflected the town's economic importance, as opposed to its low political status.[23]
A view of the Bund in 1928
Nanjing Road in the 1930s
During the Qing Dynasty, Shanghai became one of the most important sea ports in the Yangtze Delta region as a result of two important central government policy changes: First, Emperor Kangxi (1662–1723) in 1684 reversed the previous Ming Dynasty prohibition on ocean going vessels – a ban that had been in force since 1525. Second, in 1732 Emperor Yongzheng moved the customs office for Jiangsu province (江海关; see Customs House, Shanghai) from the prefectural capital of Songjiang city to Shanghai, and gave Shanghai exclusive control over customs collections for Jiangsu Province's foreign trade. As a result of these two critical decisions, Professor Linda Cooke Johnson has concluded that by 1735 Shanghai had become the major trade port for all of the lower Yangtze River region, despite still being at the lowest administrative level in the political hierarchy.[24]
A three dimensional diorama of the Bund as it would have appeared in the 1940s
International attention to Shanghai grew in the 19th century due to its economic and trade potential at the Yangtze River. During the First Opium War (1839–1842), British forces temporarily held the city. The war ended with the 1842 Treaty of Nanjing, opening the treaty ports, Shanghai included, for international trade. The Treaty of the Bogue signed in 1843, and the Sino-American Treaty of Wanghia signed in 1844 together allowed foreign nations to visit and trade on Chinese soil, and Britain, France, and the United States all carved out concessions outside the walled city of Shanghai, which was still ruled by the Chinese.
The Chinese-held old city of Shanghai fell to the rebels of the Small Swords Society in 1853 but was recovered by the Qing in February 1855.[25] In 1854, the Shanghai Municipal Council was created to manage the foreign settlements. Between 1860–1862, the Taiping rebels twice attacked Shanghai and destroyed the city's eastern and southern suburbs, but failed to take the city.[26] In 1863, the British settlement to the south of Suzhou Creek (northern Huangpu District) and the American settlement to the north (southern Hongkou District) joined in order to form the Shanghai International Settlement. The French opted out of the Shanghai Municipal Council and maintained its own concession to the south and southwest.
A baby crying in the ruins of a Shanghai Railway Station bombed by the Japanese in August 1937
Citizens of many countries and all continents came to Shanghai to live and work during the ensuing decades; those who stayed for long periods – some for generations – called themselves "Shanghailanders".[27] In the 1920s and 1930s, almost 20,000 White Russians and Russian Jews fled the newly established Soviet Union and took up residence in Shanghai. These Shanghai Russians constituted the second-largest foreign community. By 1932, Shanghai had become the world's fifth largest city and home to 70,000 foreigners.[28] In the 1930s, some 30,000 Jewish refugees from Europe arrived in the city.[29]
The Sino-Japanese War concluded with the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which elevated Japan to become another foreign power in Shanghai. Japan built the first factories in Shanghai, which were soon copied by other foreign powers. Shanghai was then the most important financial center in the Far East. All this international activity gave Shanghai the nickname "the Great Athens of China"[30]
Site of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China, a typical shikumen building
Under the Republic of China (1911–1949), Shanghai's political status was finally raised to that of a municipality on 14 July 1927. Although the territory of the foreign concessions was excluded from their control, this new Chinese municipality still covered an area of 828.8 square kilometers, including the modern-day districts of Baoshan, Yangpu, Zhabei, Nanshi, and Pudong. Headed by a Chinese mayor and municipal council, the new city governments first task was to create a new city-center in Jiangwan town of Yangpu district, outside the boundaries of the foreign concessions. This new city-center was planned to include a public museum, library, sports stadium, and city hall.[31]
On 28 January 1932, Japanese forces struck and the Chinese resisted, fighting to a standstill; a ceasefire was brokered in May. The Battle of Shanghai in 1937 resulted in the occupation of the Chinese administered parts of Shanghai outside of the International Settlement and the French Concession. The International Settlement was occupied by the Japanese on 8 December 1941 and remained occupied until Japan's surrender in 1945, during which time war crimes were committed.[32]
Night view down Yan'an Road, the former Avenue Edward VII, just south of the Bund
On 27 May 1949, the People's Liberation Army took control of Shanghai, which was one of only three former Republic of China (ROC) municipalities not merged into neighboring provinces over the next decade (the others being Beijing and Tianjin).[33] Shanghai underwent a series of changes in the boundaries of its subdivisions, especially in the next decade. After 1949, most foreign firms moved their offices from Shanghai to Hong Kong, as part of an exodus of foreign investment due to the Communist victory.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Shanghai became an industrial center and center for radical leftism; the leftist Jiang Qing and her three cohorts, together the Gang of Four, were based in the city.[34] 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), in order to funnel wealth to the rural areas, Shanghai has been a comparatively heavy contributor of tax revenue to the central government. This came at the cost of severely crippling Shanghai's infrastructural and capital development. Its importance to the fiscal well-being of the central government also denied it economic liberalizations begun in 1978. Shanghai was finally permitted to initiate economic reforms in 1991, starting the massive development still seen today and the birth of Lujiazui in Pudong.
Tags:Pudong,Nanjing Road,The Bund,21,People's Republic Of China,Municipalities,Financial Center,Yangtze River,Jiangsu,Economic Reforms,Village,Market Town,County Seat,Prefecture,City Wall,Japanese Pirates,Prefectural Capital,江, | |
| Geography | |
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Main article: Geography of Shanghai
The urban area of Shanghai can be seen in this natural-color satellite image (Landsat-7 2005-08-15).
The Yangtze River Delta is shown in green in this map of Shanghai (on the east at center) alongside the neighboring provinces of Jiangsu (to the north and west) and Zhejiang (to the south and west). Parts of Jiangsu and Zhejiang which are outside the Yangtze River Delta are shown in yellow. Provincial boundaries are shown in purple, sub-provincial boundaries in grey.
Shanghai sits on the Yangtze River Delta on China's eastern coast, and is roughly equidistant from Beijing and Hong Kong. The municipality as a whole consists of a peninsula between the Yangtze and Hangzhou Bay, mainland China's second-largest island Chongming, and a number of smaller islands. It is bordered on the north and west by Jiangsu Province, on the south by Zhejiang Province, and on the east by the East China Sea. The city proper is bisected by the Huangpu River, a tributary of the Yangtze. The historic center of the city, the Puxi area, is located on the western side of the Huangpu, while the newly developed Pudong, containing the central financial district Lujiazui, was developed on the eastern bank.
The vast majority of Shanghai's 6,340.5 km2 (2,448.1 sq mi) land area is flat, apart from a few hills in the southwest corner, with an average elevation of 4 m (13 ft).[3] The city's location on the flat alluvial plain has meant that new skyscrapers must be built with deep concrete piles to stop them from sinking into the soft ground. The highest point is at the peak of Dajinshan Island at 103 m (338 ft).[3] The city has many rivers, canals, streams and lakes and is known for its rich water resources as part of the Taihu drainage area.[2]
Tags:Zhejiang,East China Sea, | |
| Climate | |
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Shanghai has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) and experiences four distinct seasons. Winters are chilly and damp, and cold northwesterly winds from Siberia can cause nighttime temperatures to drop below freezing, although most years there are only one or two days of snowfall. Summers are hot and humid, with an average of 8.7 days exceeding 35 °C (95 °F) annually; occasional downpours or freak thunderstorms can be expected. The city is also susceptible to typhoons in summer and the beginning of autumn, none of which in recent years has caused considerable damage.[35] The most pleasant seasons are Spring, although changeable and often rainy, and Autumn, which is generally sunny and dry. The city averages 4.2 °C (39.6 °F) in January and 27.9 °C (82.2 °F) in July, for an annual mean of 16.1 °C (61.0 °F). Shanghai experiences on average 1,878 hours of sunshine per year, with the hottest temperature ever recorded at 40.2 °C (104 °F), and the lowest at −12.1 °C (10 °F).[36]
Climate data for 上海 (1971−2000)
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year
Average high °C (°F)
8.1
(46.6)
9.2
(48.6)
12.8
(55.0)
19.1
(66.4)
24.1
(75.4)
27.6
(81.7)
31.8
(89.2)
31.3
(88.3)
27.2
(81.0)
22.6
(72.7)
17.0
(62.6)
11.1
(52.0)
20.2
(68.4)
Average low °C (°F)
1.1
(34.0)
2.2
(36.0)
5.6
(42.1)
10.9
(51.6)
16.1
(61.0)
20.8
(69.4)
25.0
(77.0)
24.9
(76.8)
20.6
(69.1)
15.1
(59.2)
9.0
(48.2)
3.0
(37.4)
12.9
(55.2)
Precipitation mm (inches)
50.6
(1.992)
56.8
(2.236)
98.8
(3.89)
89.3
(3.516)
102.3
(4.028)
169.6
(6.677)
156.3
(6.154)
157.9
(6.217)
137.3
(5.406)
62.5
(2.461)
46.2
(1.819)
37.1
(1.461)
1,164.7
(45.854)
% humidity
75
74
76
76
76
82
82
81
78
75
74
73
76.8
Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)
9.7
10.3
13.9
12.7
12.1
14.4
12.0
11.3
11.0
8.1
7.0
6.5
129.0
Sunshine hours
123.0
115.7
126.0
156.1
173.5
147.6
217.8
220.8
158.9
160.8
146.6
147.7
1,894.5
Source: China Meteorological Administration [37]
Tags:上海, | |
| Politics | |
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Main articles: Politics of Shanghai and List of provincial leaders of the People's Republic of China
Like virtually all governing institutions in mainland China, the politics of Shanghai is structured in a dual party-government system,[38] in which the Communist Party Chief, officially termed the Communist Party of China Shanghai Municipal Committee Secretary (currently Yu Zhengsheng), outranks the Mayor (currently Han Zheng).
Political power in Shanghai is widely seen as a stepping stone to higher positions in the national government. Since Jiang Zemin became the national party chief in June 1989, all but one former Shanghai party chief was elevated to the Politburo Standing Committee, the de facto highest decision-making body in China,[38] including Jiang Zemin (General secretary and President),[39] Zhu Rongji (Premier),[40] Wu Bangguo (Chairman of the National People's Congress),[41] Huang Ju (Vice Premier),[42] and Xi Jinping (Vice President).[43] Zeng Qinghong, a former deputy party chief of Shanghai, also rose to the Politburo Standing Committee and became the Vice President and an influential power broker.[44] The only exception is Chen Liangyu, who was fired in 2006 and later convicted of corruption.[45] Officials with ties to the Shanghai administration form a powerful faction in the national government, the so-called Shanghai Clique Tags:Han Zheng, | |
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