How well do you know Shanghai?
From the Bund's old banks to a skyline that rose in a single generation, these six questions explore how Shanghai eats, builds and speaks.
Did you know?
- The Shanghai maglev train links the city to Pudong International Airport, a trip of about 30 kilometres that takes only around eight minutes. Opened in 2004, it was the first commercial high-speed magnetic levitation line in the world, floating above its guideway without wheels touching the track.
- The Shanghai Tower has one of the fastest lift systems ever installed, carrying passengers up more than 100 floors in under a minute. Its outer glass skin acts as a buffer, keeping the building warmer in winter and cooler in summer and saving energy.
- Hairy crabs are named for the dark fur on their claws. The most prized ones come from Yangcheng Lake near Suzhou, and they are at their best in autumn. They are traditionally eaten with warm yellow rice wine, which is believed to balance the crab's 'cooling' nature.
A city that reinvents itself
Shanghai grew from a walled market town on the Huangpu River into one of the world's great ports. Opened to foreign trade in the 1840s, it attracted merchants, banks and migrants from across China and the world, and became famous in the 1920s and 1930s for its nightlife, cinema and fashion. Today it is one of China's largest cities and a centre of finance, shipping and design, where historic lane neighbourhoods sit a short walk from some of the tallest towers on Earth.
The Bund and its buildings
The Bund is a riverside promenade on the western bank of the Huangpu, lined with dozens of grand buildings from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Banks, trading houses and hotels were built there in a mix of neoclassical, Gothic and Art Deco styles. The Peace Hotel, originally the Cathay Hotel, is one of the best-known examples of Art Deco in Asia. At night the old buildings on one bank and the glowing towers of Pudong on the other face each other across the water.
A skyline built in a generation
Pudong's skyline grew with remarkable speed. The Oriental Pearl Tower, with its pink spheres, was completed in 1994, followed by the Jin Mao Tower in 1999. The Shanghai World Financial Centre, finished in 2008, is nicknamed 'the bottle opener' because of the opening at its top. The Shanghai Tower, 632 metres tall, was completed in 2015. Its double glass skin wraps around a series of indoor sky gardens, one for each zone of the building.
Food and everyday life
Shanghai cooking is known for being slightly sweet, often using sugar and soy sauce together in dishes such as red-braised pork. Besides xiaolongbao, locals love shengjian bao, pan-fried buns with crisp bottoms. In autumn, hairy crabs are a seasonal treat, often eaten with ginger and vinegar. Yu Garden, laid out in the 16th century, is a classic Chinese garden of rockeries, ponds and pavilions, surrounded today by a busy bazaar.