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The Glossary

guangchang - "or public square, where most Chinese family restaurants, bazaars and parks is located."

From China Glossary

The term "Far East" may no longer be in use during the 21st century, but Shanghai's glimmer as the darling destination of the 20th century Far East is yet to fade. A trade and building boom during the ‘30s transformed Shanghai from a quiet textiles and fishing town into a mega metropolis of 130-storey skyscrapers, bullet-speed trains, and over 18 million multinationals, making it China's largest cosmopolitan culture and design center and the world's "showpiece" of a fastest-growing economy.

Everything modern in China is considered to be born in Shanghai since it was East Asia's 20th century economic hub. The first motor car was driven in Shanghai, and the first modern sewers and train tracks were laid there. It is also the birthplace of China's 500-million-dollar cinema and the battleground of modern socialist writers. Wong Kar-wai, a famous Hollywood and Hong Kong filmmaker, is a native of Shanghai.

A river, Huangpu, divides the old Shanghai (Puxi) from the new (Pudong). Puxi, on the west bank, is a riverside town that includes The Bund, East Asia's 19th century financial hub that is now a repository of colonial banks and trading houses that boasts of neoclassical and art deco styles from many countries such as Britain and Russia. Cultural fusion is also palpable in Xiantandi's shikumen (Chinese and Western style) residences as well as in Former French Concession District, with its blends of opulent international architectural styles such as Yuyuan Garden, rendered in traditional Jiangnan design.

Once the home of Shanghai's Jewish population, Hongkou is now the site of socialist writer Lu Xun's Memorial Park and Museum, as well as a football stadium. A spacious Gong Qing Forest Park is also at Yangpu.

Shanghai's metros (bullet trains) are worth a try for crossing over to Pudong, the "new Shanghai" with its wide range of skyscrapers like Oriental Pearl Tower, Jin Mao Tower, and Shanghai World Financial Center, China's tallest building and the world's second-highest skyscraper. Other noteworthy examples of the city's contemporary architecture include the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, Shanghai Art Museum, the Shanghai Grand Theater at the People's Square, and the Shanghai Museum, whose Chinese art and historical artifacts, like Ming Dynasty Chinese paintings, are among the world's most important archaeological finds.

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