Shanghai
At first, Shanghai was just a fishing and weaving village then the British, French and Japanese arrived around 1842-1895 and used it as the first major port for trading (silk, opium, etc) There were more cars in Shanghai than all of China. The foreigners had so much invested in Shanghai, in fact they owned and ran the place each country with their neighbourhood (even till today you can find the French neighbourhood, etc) so they provided protection for the city itself. They would buy opium and re-sell it to the city members most who had become addicts and then use them for cheap labour. Then in 1949 China stepped in, kicked them out and started rehabilitating the addicts (They also stepped in because they wanted to make the profit from the trading) Then in the 1990's they re-invited the capitalist back to Shanghai to make it into the city it is today; economist forecast Shanghai will overtake Hong Kong simply because it has more space (the city grows from in to out so it can keep growing, while space is a major problem in Hong Kong). Hong Kong was an economic giant in the past because China was all closed up and the only way to get access to the cheap labour commodities in China was through Hong Kong...but not so anymore.
Gung Hei Fat Choy!
January 31st 2006 The past few months have been very packed, with my finals, a trip to Thailand, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, and a visit from my mommy here in Hong Kong. It’s a bit overwhelming to think of writing a blog about my experiences, so to be honest I’ve decided just to put up some pictures, a few comments maybe a story or two…and that should be more than enough reading!
As I meet you al
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For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. A... ... read more 
