SHANGAI
31.2000° N, 121.5000° E
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China
and the largest city proper by population in the
world. It is one of the four direct-controlled
municipalities of China, with a total population of
near 24 million as of 2013. It is a global financial
center, and a transport hub with the world's busiest
container port. Located in the Yangtze River Delta
in East China, Shanghai sits at the mouth of the
Yangtze River in the middle portion of the Chinese
coast. The municipality borders the provinces of
Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the north, south and west,
and is bounded to the east by the East China Sea.
For centuries a major administrative, shipping, and
trading town, Shanghai grew in importance in the
19th century due to European recognition of its
favorable port location and economic potential.
The city was one of several opened to foreign trade
following the British victory over China in the First
Opium War and the subsequent 1842 Treaty of
Nanking which allowed the establishment of the
Shanghai International Settlement. The city then
flourished as a center of commerce between east
and west, and became the undisputed financial hub
of the Asia Pacific in the 1930s. However, with the
Communist Party takeover of the mainland in 1949,
trade was reoriented to focus on socialist
countries, and the city's global influence declined.
In the 1990s, the economic reforms introduced by
Deng Xiaoping resulted in an intense redevelopment of the city, aiding the return of
finance and foreign investment to the city.
Shanghai is a popular tourist destination renowned
for its historical landmarks such as The Bund, City
God Temple and Yu Garden, as well as the
extensive Lujiazui skyline and major museums
including the Shanghai Museum and the China Art
Museum. It has been described as the "showpiece"
of the booming economy of mainland China.