14/31: Shanghai’s old city
China is known for being one of the oldest countries in the world. It has been around since thousands of years and it’s part of the universal history as it’s the most important region in east Asia.
Shanghai is the biggest city in China, with 23 million people living in the city and an estimated of 34 million in the metropolitan area. It’s the second biggest metropolitan area of the word (Tokyo is the biggest one). It was founded as a small agricultural village around the 4th or 7th century. Shanghai experienced a big growth during the Qing Dynasty (18–20 centuries) and since then it has been the economic center of China.
Walking in the streets of Shanghai is walking in a city where millions of people have lived, it’s living in one of the most ancient cities in the world.
The called old city was built in 1554 by the Ming Dynasty. It prevails today as one of the oldest living parts of the city, where tourists and locals can go and enjoy a taste of the old Shanghai.
In a rumbling modern city, Old Town founded a place where history prevails. If you walk to the narrow streets you can see small shops offering traditional Chinese jewelry, food and clothes.
Some of the old gates were preserved after the demolishment of the Old City walls in 1912, and today you can still walk through them to enter the area.
It’s a place that no person who lives in Shanghai can miss. It’s not for touristic reasons, but it’s the heart of the city, the old Shanghai that became what it’s today, the financial center of the entire country.
What was once the center of the city, is now the main touristic area of Shanghai. Most of the traditional Chinese celebrations are held here, like Chinese New Year, when Shanghai Government builds different light attractions for people to watch in the Old City.
As you can imagine it quickly became one of my favorite parts of the city. Every time someone comes to visit me or my friends this is the first place where we take them, it’s the best way to show them not only the old Shanghai but to give them a little taste of the traditional China that’s still alive in the biggest city of the country.
This story is part of my 31/31 challenge. Following a friend’s idea I will publish at least one story every day for the next month.
If you see any error please let me know, the idea is to stop over-reviewing my stories before publishing them.
If you liked it be sure to show me your love clicking the ❤️ below. And you can also subscribe to my new publications Shanghai Living and Lost Facts.
You can connect with me via Twitter following me at @fernandlicon.
