1988: A train passes through a shanty settlement. by Ji Haiying/Microfotos

In 1842, the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) government was forced to sign The Treaty of Nanking with Great Britain, pursuant which Shanghai was ceded to become one of the country’s ports of trade opening to the outside world. In the following century, Shanghai expanded at a rapid rate, evolving from a small coastal town into a powerful, dynamic cosmopolitan city, and an international hub of trade and business for multinational corporations. The city grew into the most vibrant commercial center in the Asia-Pacific area, and became known as the “Paris of the Orient.”

The largest city of China, the eighth largest city in the world, and one of China’s four municipalities under direct jurisdiction of the central government, Shanghai, with a population of 20 million, now functions as China’s leading economic center, and it is home to the largest commercial port in the world.

The World Expo debuted in London in 1851, while in the Oriental city of Shanghai, as the glory of the Qing Dynasty began to wane, lower-profile events were underway. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement began; the American Protestant Episcopal Church founded Shanghai’s first girls’ school in Hongkou; on the west bank of the Zhaojiabang River, China’s first Catholic church was built; and the city promulgated port management regulations governing the berthing and sailing of inbound foreign merchant ships. It was also in that year that the British merchant W. Hogg and his four partners established Shanghai’s first horse track at today’s junction of East Nanjing Road and Central Henan Road.

A century ago, Shanghai was serving as a conduit through which the Qing Dynasty could communicate externally and allow the Oriental country to sense the pulse of the rest of the world.

Over the years, the previous horse track built by W. Hogg was extended eastward and westward, and is now dominated by hundreds of stores. Having witnessed the emergence and evolvement of the city’s five largest department stores, namely Yong’an, Xianshi, Xinxin, Daxin and China Homemade Goods, Nanjing Road is now the most bustling commercial street in Shanghai. Featuring state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, gorgeously-adorned show windows, a diversity of commodities, modern management, and a comfortable shopping environment, the high and low commercial buildings, in varying styles, combine to make Nanjing Road one of the world’s top-class commercial districts, alongside New York City’s Fifth Avenue, Paris’ Champs Elysees, London’s Oxford Street, and Tokyo’s Ginza.

Since Nanjing Road was reconceived as a pedestrian street in 1995, this one-kilometer urban corridor has gained more appeal, with multicolored street stones, orderly rows of time-honored shops, boutiques, trendy open-air bars, cute sightseeing vehicles, and chic bronze sculptures. All these elements are set off by the urban hullabaloo in daytime and the luminous neon lights at night, contributing to Shanghai’s cityscape. Popular among both anticipant shoppers and merchants at home and abroad, Nanjing Road is considered the “No.1 Commercial Street of China,” and it is a vibrant symbol of Shanghai commerce.

Since the Bund opened to the outside world more than 100 years ago, it has seen the successive debuts of varying architectural styles, exhibiting distinctive charm and appeal. Behind each of the buildings along the Bund is a story of history and memories. Echoed by the waves of the Huangpu River passing by, these buildings silently narrate the legends which came to be in the city in bygone days.

In comparison, Pudong, facing the Bund across the Huangpu River, stands out as a new landmark of Shanghai. It was here that the altitude of the city was elevated. From the 468-meter Oriental Pearl TV Tower to the 492-meter World Financial Center, and to the Shanghai Tower, now under construction and designed to rise 580 meters, higher than any other building in the nation, Shanghai’s skyline extends to a higher altitude as the once unknown district of Pudong expands at astonishing speed.

A saying among Shanghai citizens goes: One cannot be thought to have visited Shanghai if he or she never visited Nanjing Road in the 20th Century, and that one is not thought to have visited Shanghai if he or she has not yet visited Xintiandi in the 21st Century. Previously a district crowded with Shikumen (old-style lane houses), Xintiandi has been reconstructed into a popular destination for leisure, gourmet dining and shopping, featuring a mix of exotic flavors and a typical local cultural atmosphere.

Xintiandi represents the varied vitality of today’s Shanghai, while also nestled within the bosom of the city are the old district of Chenghuangmiao, the business district of Lujiazui; the former residences of such historic personages of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and his wife, Soong Ching-ling, former Premier Zhou Enlai, and the great writer Lu Xun. Also here are humanistic modern residential quarters; time-honored stores, and global high-end brands. This elemental fusion contributes to a diverse, inclusive and prosperous Shanghai. Today’s Shanghai is China’s center for science, technology, business, finance and information, while also serving as the country’s bridgehead for international cultural exchange and integration.