A train ride at a speed of four hundred and thirty kilometers per hour is only possible in Shanghai. The terrifying slums that this former opium-trade capital was notorious for, will not leave a trace in a couple of years. In a city that has become a symbol of the economy of the future, they do not belong.
In Shanghai, you can see three completely different cities at once: the modern Shanghai unofficial capital of the People's Republic of China, pretending to be the economic capital of Asia, Colonial Shanghai - a major British and French trading city and the ancient Shanghai, which emerged in the Middle Ages on the site of a small fishing village. Little has been preserved from that of Shanghai. In the center of the city, opposite the medieval Yuyuan Park, in the middle of a small lake with red carps stands an ancient teahouse, built in the XVI century.
In the vicinity of the lake, there is an ancient fortress tower with a small fragment of the wall. Once the city was surrounded by a deep moat, now in its place is a busy pedestrian street, which is a lively trade. There are a few tiered pagodas near which pensioners like to gather, but they look ancient, built a few years ago and are part of a large shopping and entertainment complex.
Due to its exceptionally advantageous geographical location - at the mouth of the main Yangtze River of China into the East China Sea - Shanghai has been and remains the most important trading center of the country.
The rapid growth of the city began at the end of the 18th century when English traders began to import opium into China. The authorities' attempts to ban this harmful import resulted in England forcing China to sign several lucrative treaties. Shanghai has become a trading hub for Britain and other Western countries.
The city has seen the emergence of large settlements, quarters for foreigners using extraterritoriality. The Chinese were allowed in them only if they had a pass. The main settlement, the British, grew up on the Huangpu embankment, in a tributary of the Yangtze. The neighborhoods of Shanghai, where foreigners lived, had a European look. The indigenous population was living in such close barracks. Now there are very few of them left, and once they occupied almost half of the city. Looking at them, you understand why Shanghai is still called a messy cluster of shacks built of improvised material. The Chinese, who came from all over the country to Shanghai to earn money, settled in such huts - the British called them kennels, "dog boxes" - ten to twelve people each. Sewerage, plumbing, and any other amenities are absent in the Shanghai slums. Electricity was only recently brought here, but it can be paid for by those who have jobs. And there are a minority of them. Most surprisingly, the slum areas are a 10-minute walk from the city's respectable center.
The symbol of colonial Shanghai is the promenade built by the British. Now it is called Waitangi. The offices of the world's most famous companies, the largest banks, were located here. One of the - Hong Kong-Shanghai - occupied the largest mansion on the embankment. After the formation of the People's Republic of China, the building was nationalized - it housed the city administration and the hill party.
There are always many tourists on the Waitangi embankment. This place is also popular with Shanghai. Young people usually make appointments here.
In 1896, the Russian Consulate General was opened in Shanghai. Even today it occupies the same magnificent palace on Huangpu Street. Russian emigrants who found themselves in Shanghai after the October Revolution settled mainly in the French Quarter. There are a few signs of their stay in the city. At the crossroads of Fengyang and Taojiang Streets, there is a monument to Pushkin. By the way, the only monument to a foreign port in the country.
The monument to Pushkin was erected at the expense of Russian emigrants on the 100th anniversary of the poet's death, in the 37th. The Japanese occupation authorities of China, when the USSR entered the war with Japan, demolished the monument. After its liberation, the Chinese restored it. But during the "cultural revolution" Pushkin was overthrown again from the pedestal. He was returned to his place only in 1987.
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