Shanghai - Understand & Survival Guide (PDF Chapter)

All the info you need on everything from history: from backwater to ‘Paris of the East’; socialist citadel to financial megalopolis, to flights, public transport, climate, money, the internet... you name it. Get tips for gay and lesbian travellers and travellers with disabilities. And get the most out of your conversations with a handy language guide and glossary.

• a rundown on the city that cooked up the qípáo (cheongsam) can teach us all a thing or two about aesthetics
• info on whether Shànghǎi is the city of the future, a property bubble waiting to pop or a bit of both?
• full coverage of Shànghǎi’s architecture, which is than just skyscrapers, welcome to one of the art deco capitals of the world
• details on Shànghǎi’s spirituality that goes far deeper than the city’s reverence of Burberry and Chanel

Coverage includes: Shànghǎi Today: Money, Property, Pollution, Ageing Shànghǎi, Growth & Urban density, Shànghǎi vs China and Political Uncertainties, History: Shànghǎi’s Marshy Roots, It All Started with Opium, The Illegitimate Birth of Shànghǎi, Rebellious Youth, ‘Paris of the East’ Reaches Its Peak, The Death of Old Shànghǎi, The People’s Republic, The Nineties & Noughties and The Recent Past, Arts: Visual Arts, Literature, Music, Cinema, Fashion and Martial Arts, Architecture in Shànghǎi: Modern Architecture, Concession Architecture, Lòngtáng & Shíkùmén and Religious Architecture, Religion & Belief: Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Christianity, Islam and Judaism, Transport, Directory A–Z, and Language.