Shanghai
shang-ha'i, a city of China. It is situated on a short river, twelve miles above its entrance into the estuary of the Yang-tse-kiang. It is situated, therefore, near the most easterly point of central China. It is the natural outlet for one of the largest and most highly cultivated regions on the globe. The Chinese city is surrounded by brick walls pierced by seven gates. The streets are narrow, crooked, and dirty beyond description. There are no native buildings of architectural prominence. Aside from its commanding commercial position, the city may be said to be without interest. Shanghai was opened to foreign commerce in 1843. The French and English, and later the Americans, formed settlements below the city and without its walls. They form a continuous suburb, and have leagued together for mutual protection and police duty, forming a considerable and well built city of their own.
The river forms a commodious and safe anchorage for large ships. Quays extend along the water frontage for many miles. The wharfage is divided up into sections. Foreign ships, as well as Chinese vessels, cast anchor, each under the protection of its national flag. The English quarter, in particular, presents a frontage of imposing government buildings. A complete system of canals, chains of lakes, and railways connect Shanghai with the adjacent region. Shanghai is the great Chinese seat of export for tea, cotton, raw silk, silk goods, rice, hides, and native cloths. The principal imports are opium, cutlery, hardware, kerosene, coal, and sugar. American trade with China is conducted chiefly through the merchants of Shanghai. The consulate is an important one.
Shanghai is a center of missionary effort. The London Missionary Society, the American Presbyterian Mission, and the French Society for the Dissemination of the Faith have headquarters here. Hospitals, printing presses, and other means for the conversion and improvement of the natives are maintained on a scale unknown elsewhere in China.
The climate is much like that of Charleston, South Carolina, with the disadvantage, however, that the city is located on low, muddy ground, and is subject constantly to malarial fevers. The old city lacks sanitation. The winters are, on the whole, pleasant. Snow and ice are seen, usually for a short time. The summers are swelteringly hot. Europeans find it necessary to go elsewhere into the mountains or to seaport resorts to recover their strength. Were it not for the opportunity of making money, Europeans would desert the city. The population in 1907 was 651,000. The population of the foreign quarter was 6,774. The English and Scotch predominate.