Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4567 | Page 383

Old Tale of New Shanghai
King George V School, Ashfield, Jamie - 14
I
n 1842 the British establish a concession which is a forced treaty with the Qing dynasty after they lost the
opium war. The concessions are ruled by occupiers with no effect on Chinese law. The French, Japanese and
Americans also did the same. The Taiping Rebellion Had Caused a lot of people to die. In the 1930s Shanghai is
Asia’s most important port. Western banking firm built set of houses which American and European traders traded
tea and Indian opium. During that time you no need visa and passport to access. During WW2 shanghai has
become a home to Jews fleeing Nazi Europe, over 2000 Jews arrived. In 1937 then the Japanese invaded Shanghai
and bombed the city Jews of shanghai were forbidden to leave the city. Most of secession became Japanese. The
Nationalist and Communist struggle against the Japanese in the Battle of Shanghai. The Japanese controlled
Shanghai until Japan’s defeat after WW2. The Allied Countries abandoned shanghai during the war and signed
their territorial concessions to Chiang Kai Shek. In 1949 Mao’s resistance army fought against the Kuomintang in
the Chinese Civil War with Mao winning Resulted into Communist rule in China as the People’s Republic of
China, and few remaining foreigners left China. China was cut off from the rest of the world. In the 1950s to 1980s
China was Struck By a huge Famine swept across the nation, huge factories are rising. The city became the largest
contributor of tax revenue.