| Shanghai, China, is a two-hour flight from Osaka. Approximately 7.5 million people live in the 220 sq km that make up the city centre. The whole municipal area of Shanghai (6340 sq km) has a population of around 13.5 million.
It is the most populated city in the most populated country in the world. Shanghai lies on the Huangpu River, with old Shanghai on the west bank, and new Shanghai on the east. Old Shanghai contains buildings of many different styles; the British built many of the major buildings including most of the ones along the bund. Many of the buildings were funded from the trading of Opium. At the beginning of the 20th Century there were 1500 opium dens, 80 shops openly selling opium and 668 brothels. In 1934 the life expectancy of the Chinese in Shanghai was 27. Pudong, on the east bank of the river, is Shanghai's (and China's) economic centre. Jinmao Tower, at 420.5m, is one of the tallest buildings in the world. Among other things it houses a hotel that doesn't even begin until the 56th floor. Before 1990, the area was just farmland. |
| The word 'shanghai' is also a verb. It means to drug a man and force him on to a ship where he is made to work - a common practice in the city 100 years ago. |
