ABSTRACT
The year 1875 is described above as having been a “year of no significance” in Shanghai’s history, or at least in its history as a global city. For this reason, it would be appropriate, I claim, to devote a snapshot chapter on that year to a pair of interrelated side issues, both associated with maps. And this is what I do below. One of the side issues has a local focus: the way the city was represented on an actual map produced in Shanghai-the map that inspired Li Fengbao to write about the increasing interconnections between Chinese and foreigners in the treaty port. The other side issue linked to mapping has a more global twist. I will explore toward the end of the chapter whether we can say that, as of 1875, Shanghai was “on the map” of international travelers. That is, was it by then a place that globetrotters based far from China knew about and thought worth a visit.
