ABSTRACT

A central goal of this book is to assess Shanghai’s past and present claims that it qualifies as a “global city,” a term about which much more will be said below. But it is worth taking some time at the outset to ask a more basic question about this giant metropolis that is continually making international headlines and soon will be even more of a focus of global attention when the 2010 World Expo takes place there: at what point did Shanghai first become a city, period?1 The answer to this question is complicated, and answering it takes us back to a time when Hangzhou and Suzhou, now urban satellites to Shanghai’s neon-lit sun, were by far the most famous urban communities in the Lower Yangzi (Jiangnan) region.2 Exploring stories of Shanghai’s origins will also introduce features of the local past worth keeping in mind, while highlighting the degree to which urban legends and fairy tale visions of Shanghai’s wondrous transformations have long colored and distorted (and continue to color and distort) local and global views of the city.