Shanghai Before the Foreigners

[Animats]

Here's Shenzhen, before and after tech. Shenzhen really was a fishing village in 1950, and a small town into the 1970s. All the action was in Hong Kong nearby. A local photographer has been taking pictures from the same spots every year since 1985.[1]

Population of Shenzhen:

    1950      3,000
    1960      8,000
    1970     22,000
    1980     59,000
    1990    875,000
    2000  7,193,000
    2010 10,223,000
    2020 12,357,000

[1] https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d414d306b6a4d31457a6333566d54/...

[olalonde]

I first visited Shenzhen in 2008 and back then it was almost impossible to find anyone who was actually born in Shenzhen. It's increasingly common nowadays with the younger generation. Also, many Hong Kongers I knew were literally afraid to visit Shenzhen and nowadays, Shenzhen feels more modern and safe than Hong Kong (IMO). It's mind blowing how fast this city grew.

[jazzyjackson]

Bear in mind that the growth of one fishing village involves growing-into aka annexing neighboring villages, I've heard it said "Shenzhen did not start as one village, it started as thousands"

[janalsncm]

100x growth in 20 years starting from 1980 is insane. Would’ve been very interesting to witness.

[fuzztester]

Related:

Taipan by James Ckavelk.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tai-Pan_(novel)

I had read it some years ago. Interesting depictions of that period, Hong Kong, interactions between the British and Chinese then, and more. Good writing, IMO.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Clavell

Excerpt:

>Clavell wanted to write a second novel because "that separates the men from the boys".[21] The money from King Rat enabled him to spend two years researching and then writing what became Tai-Pan (1966). It was a huge best-seller, and Clavell sold the film rights for a sizeable amount (although the film would not be made until 1986).[22]

King Rat was also good.

[keiferski]

Great book. Noble House (also by Clavell) is also excellent and takes place a century later, also in Hong Kong, and about the same firm established in Tai-Pan.

[karmakurtisaani]

I didn't realize Shogun was his third book. I somehow always thought it was his first.

Also this

> Clavell admired Ayn Rand, founder of the Objectivist school of philosophy

Never meet your heroes, I suppose..

[contingencies]

Nice share but after reading the article my existing view that the area of greater Shanghai was an agricultural area without substantial urban development until the opium wars is unchallenged.

Nice to see some familiar spots. About 21 years ago I used to go to the Jing'An temple for lunch on weekends and chat with the monks. They had excellent vegetarian food in the temple, and often the monks would buy me lunch.

If you want to look at hydro-engineering wonders, the nearby grand canal is amazing. I would post a wayback machine link of a trip I did up there circa 2005 but archive.org are still half down right now.

Can't stand Shanghai - no nature.

[Kon-Peki]

Nanjing, just an hour or so up the river, is multiple thousands of years old and is one of the most important historical cities in Chinese history. So it is really no surprise that Shanghai was not developed until foreign trade became important.

[fbn79]

Can I suggest you the novel "Maiden Voyage" by Denton Welch. Is a portrait of Shanghai in 1930 by an english boy

[jazzyjackson]

I'm enjoying Shanghai Grand by Teras Grescoe , it follows the Americans and other foreigners hanging out in the French and American concessions in that same era. Really interesting period, America itself being in a great depression while Shanghai was booming, attracting investors and clout chasers from all over the world

[tmtvl]

This kinda reminds me of how Edo (nowadays known as Tokyo) was a little fishing village back in the Sengoku period.

[fuzztester]

Same about Hong Kong.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41930168

[phyalow]

Loosely related, but two of my favourite quirks of historic international development / trade relating to China

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_International_Settl... The Americans/British and other European powers held and administered sovereign territory in Shanghai. Truly remarkable considering the historical implications.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteen_Factories

Also the “factories” in Canton each administered by a foreign power or “Hong” (i.e. Jardine Mathieson (worth a google if you are unfamiliar), the portraits on the wiki link paint an otherworldy romantic picture of what was a remarkably profitable and wild trade…

[ngcc_hk]

Not before f but United Kingdom, even though for Shanghai later it is not just. One can say up until 2019 also not just …