PRC CITY BRIEF SHANGHAI

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86T00608R000600130009-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 3, 1999
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: July 1, 1975
• Content Type: BRIEF

 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : C A-RDP86TOO608R0006001.30009-4
C q OGGle- /1V 6/. ;a GBv%95
PRC CITY BRIEF
Shanghai j 4
CIA/OGCR/GD
PN 61.2684/75
Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R0006Gb1;000Br4
 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000600130009-4
SHANGHAI (Shang-hai)
(pronounced shong-hi)
Chinese romanized system
of spelling:
Shanghai
Meaning in Chinese:
Location:
Elevation:
Population:
Climate:
Mean daily maximum
temperature (OF)
Mean daily minimum
temperature (?F)
Mean number of days
with precipitation
Mean monthly
precipitation (inches)
up from the sea
31?14'N 121?2 8'E
(approx. latitude of
Jacksonville, Florida)
50 feet above sea level
11,000,000 in municipality;
5,600,000 in built-up area
(Total municipality comprises
2,390 square miles and includes
ten rural counties)
Jan Apri 1 July Oct
47 67 91 75
32 49 75 56
10 13 11 9
1.9 3.6 5.8 2.9
Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000600130009-4
 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000600130009-4
SHANGHAI
General
Shanghai, once a bastion of Western capitalism as well as the
birthplace of the Chinese Communist Party, is today China's
largest city, her most important port, and her premier center
of trade and industry. Originally a fishing village, the city
was built atop mudflats along the winding Huang-p'u Chiang
(Whangpoo River) a few miles south of the estuary of the Yangtze.
Today the more than 11 million people in the metropolitan area
of more than 2,000 square miles -- about half of them living in
a congested urban core of 54 square miles -- comprise the largest
metropolis on the Asian mainland and one of the largest in the
world.
Shanghai is China's most westernized city in appearance with
its downtown section along the Bund -- the wide and bustling
boulevard along the west bank of the Hrang-p'u -- presenting an
impressive skyline of tall buildings built to house the banks,
clubs, hotels, and offices of a bygone day. The facade is
lirr:;ted, however, and to the west, north, and south stretch
miles of typical Chinese urban development -- low crowded
buildings, small shops, and busy markets. Along much of the
waterfront and in outlying areas are sizable industrial districts,
in part consisting of pre-1949 factories but now augmented by
more recently built installations. Much of this newer develop-
ment is surrounded by workers apartment buildings.
An enormous amount of commerce moves to and from Shanghai
by ocean vessel, river craft, and two railroads -- one to the
northwest to Nan-ching and the populous North China region, and
the second, south to Hang-chou and the urban centers of South
China. Few of Shanghai's foreign visitors arrive by ship; most
come by rail or by air. Those traveling by air land either at
Hung-ch'iao International Airport, west of the city, or if on a
domestic flight, at Lung-hua Airfield to the south.
The visitor can expect a climate similar to Norfolk, Virginia.
Summers are hot and humid, usually with considerable rain. Winters
are chilly rather than cold; many days are gray and gloomy with
occasional periods of drizzle or light rain. Spring and autumn
are the most comfortable seasons, when temperatures are pleasant
and rain infrequent.
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 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000600130009-4
Il 1 s tort'
Shanghai was flourishing as a domestic port in the mid-18th
century when foreign traders were first attracted to the city by
its location on a tributary only 14 miles upstream from the mouth
of the Yangtze, a river navigable by oceangoing vessels several
hundreds cf miles into the interior. The site was ideal both
for development of international trade and for tapping the vast
internal market of China. After Western merchants gained access
to several Chinese ports, including Shanghai, by the 1842 Treaty
of Nanking, it was only a few years until half of China's inter-
national trade -- previously dominated by Canton -- passed
through the city on the mudf i ats . From then on ;growth of the city
was rapid and its importance assured.
Foreign-administered enclaves dominated Shanghai's business
and commercial activity for the next century. Great Britain had
acquired a concession of land to the south of the confluence of
the Huang-p'u Chiang and Su-chou Ho (Soochow Creek) in 1843. It
was subsequently expanded and combined with a similar U.S. tract
north of the Su-chou Ho to form the International Settlement.
France was also granted a trading concession, south of the Inter-
national Settlement and north of the Old Chinese Town. Developed
solely for the operations of foreign merchants, the concessions
were ruled by foreign law and defended by foreign troops and gun-
boats. Despite the foreign presence -- which attained a maximum
population of 60,000 in 19 36 -- the population of the concessions
remained overwhelmingly Chinese.
While Western merchants prospered and industry and commerce
flourished, Shanghai was spawning vast urban slums, discontent,
strikes, and revolts against foreign rule. Another and more
publicized face of Shanghai also was seen -- that of an uninhibited
city whose appellations "Paris of the East" and "Adventurer's
Paradise" fitted her seaport bawdiness and exuberant night life,
popular with sailors, tourists, and foreign residents alike.
Opium dens and brothels, run by crime syndicates, flourished
openly. Sailors settled their feuds in "Blood Alley," near the
waterfront.
The end of the old era of Shanghai began with Japanese
occupation of the city in the 1930s and, following a brief
revival under Chinese Nationalist rule after World War II, closed
with PRC occupation and control of the city in 1949. Since then,
Shanghai has been slowly rid of its crime, prostitution, drug
addiction, and other vice that had festered for more than a
century. Today it is steeped in Maoist puritanism; night life
is nonexistent and neon signs extol only Mao and Communist virtues.
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 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000600130009-4
Although 24 years of Communist rule have little altered the
Western appearance of Shanghai's urban core, the monuments to foreign
rule have been transformed in function. Banks now house offices
of the municipal government; clubs of foreign businessmen quarter
foreign seamen; "Blood Alley" is a street of quiet shops; the
race track is a park; the golf course a zoo; and the villas of
the Western entrepreneurs are now nurseries, playgrounds, and
hospitals.
The Bund, now termed Chung-shan-lu, still remains as one of
the great streets of the world and the hub of Shanghai banking and
commerce. A good view of the Bund is from the upper floors of the
Shanghai Hotel, north of Su-chou Ho. The former United Kingdom
Consulate, a large compound that now houses assorted stores and
offices, is to the south across the Garden Bridge, at the north
end of the Bund. Two other landmarks along the Bund are the
180-room Peace Hotel, formerly known as the Palace Hotel, and the
Customs Building. The Peace Hotel, the most popular hostelry in
the city for foreign guests, still shows signs of its former
grandeur despite a faded facade and worn carpets. Its ornate
dining room stretches the full length of the top floor and
provides a commanding view of the Bund and the bustling boat
traffic in the Huang-p'u Chiang beyond. The Customs Building,
a Tudor structure with a tower more than 100 feet high, is a few
blocks to the south. Its tower contains an enormous clock
that chimes each quarter hour to the strains of "The East is
Red."
While the Bund is Shanghai's most westernized street, Nanking
Road (Nan-ching.-lu) is its busiest marketing artery. Extending
westward from the Bund for several miles, it is lined with a
variety of speciality stores, restaurants, and theaters. Both
the Shanghai Number 1 Department Store and the Yung-an Department
Store offer the shopper a wide range of PRC-manufactured goods.
The People's Park and People's Square, occupying the area of a
former race track, extend between Nanking Road and Yenan Road
(Yen-an-l'4) to the south. Overlooking the park and square on
the north are the imposing International Hotel, formerly the Park
Hotel, and the Overseas Chinese Hotel. The People's Recreation
Hall is to the southeast. Built in the 1920s as the Great World
entertainment center, it has several floors with galleries ringing
a central courtyard. The lively entertainment of its gaudy past
has been subdued, replaced by Revolutionary opera, ballet, films,
and plays.
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 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000600130009-4
The Shanghai Industrial Exhibition, located between Nanking
Road and Yenan Road several blocks west of the People's Park, is
in the former Sino-Soviet People's Friendship Building, an impressive
structure with a high spire. A permanent exhibit of products
manufactured in Shanghai is housed in the building and other
exhibits are displayed there from time to time, The Buddhist
Ching-an Monastery, containing the famous Temple of Serenity,
is farther west, at the intersection of Nanking Road with Fan-
huang-to-lu. The Children's Palace, an educational and recreational
center, is another third of a mile beyond. The recently renovated
Yu-fo Monastery, at the intersection of Kiangning Road (Chiang-
ning-lu) and Anyuan Road (An-yuan-lu), contains two superb jade
statues of Buddha.
The Old Chinese Town contras -L3 sharply with the Western
appearance of the Bund and Nanking Road, predating by centuries
the development of the International Settlement and French Con-
cession.. Streets are narrow and winding, and buildings are low
and crowded. Although the walls that once encircled the Old Town
have been removed, the oval boundary can readily be traced by
the street pattern. The Yu Garden forms a pleasant enclave in
the northern ,art of the Old Town. It contains a small lake in
the center of which stands a tea house, connected to the shore
by,zig-zag bridges whose alignment, according to Chinese belief,
foils evil spirits. Just south of the Garden is the Yu-yuan
Market, comprising a dozen or so small eating establishments and
nearly 100 speciality shops selling a galaxy of handicrafts and
sundries. The 400-year-old City Temple is inside the market.
Pleasant residential neighborhoods with quiet streets and
large secluded houses are found to the west of the Old Town in
the former French Concession quarter. Many of the houses have
been converted into institutions, including a medical college and
several hospitals. Culture Square and the former home of Dr. Sun
Yat-Sen, now a small museum, are located in this area.
The rapid growth of Shanghai in the past 2 decades has
resulted in the development of commercial, governmental, and
educational complexes in outlying areas. Fu-tan University,
specializing in the sciences, and T'ung-chi University, an
engineering school, are located in the Chiang-wan District, some
4 miles north of the city center. The District is planned as
the site of a civic center for Shanghai.
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 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000600130009-4
I;idus try
Shanghai continues to be China's leading industrial city.
Emphasis has shifted from pre-eminence in light industry, par-
ticularly textiles, to a more balanced industrial establishment
that includes the manufacture of iron and steel, heavy machinery,
chemicals, electrical equipment, motor vehicles, tires, paper,
and glassware. Much of Shanghai's industry, including iron and
steel plants, petrochemical plants, shipyards, oil refineries,
and textile mills, continues to be located along both banks of
the Huang-p'u, between the city center and the Yangtze.
Shanghai's industrial rejuvenation has seen the development
of industrial estates in outlying areas, some well away from the
Huang-p'u. These estates are surrounded by sprawling housing
developments comprising workers apartment buildings, shopping
centers, schools, hospitals, and theaters. Min-hsing, along the
Huang-p'u about 15 miles south of the city, is one of the most
publicized of such industrial-residential complexes and the one
most likely to be shown to visitors. It produces electrical
machinery, heavy machine tools, boilers, and steam turbines. The
Wu-ching chemical complex, including a coke chemical plant and
a fertilizer plant, is just north of Min-hsing, a'so along the
Huang-p'u. The much heralded P'eng-p'u manufacturing district,
specializing in heavy machinery, has recently been established
about 3 miles north of the Shanghai urban center.
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\ Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608JR00060,Q$40
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 Approved For Release. 11999/09/26 :'~IA-RDP86T00608R000600130009-4
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 Approved For Release 1999/09/26 : CIA-RPI'86\TO0608R000600130009-4
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 Approved For Release 1999109/26; CIA-RDP86T00608R000600130009-4
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pproved FOi R 1ease'1999/09/26 : CIA-RDP86T00608R000600130009-4
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