Shanghai

**Shanghai** (; Shanghainese: Zånhae ; Mandarin: ) is the maist populous ceety in Cheenae an the lairgest ceety proper in the warld. A global ceety, Shanghai exerts influence ower commerce, finance, cultur, airt, fashion, research an entertainment. The ceety is locatit at the middle portion o the Cheenese coast, an sits at the mouth o the Yangtze River.

Ance a fishin an textiles toun, Shanghai grew tae importance in the 19t century due tae its favourable port location an as ane o the ceeties opened tae foreign trade bi the 1842 Treaty o Nanking. The ceety flourished as a centre o commerce atween east an wast, an became a multinaitional hub o finance an business bi the 1930s. Efter 1990, the economic reforms introduced bi Deng Xiaoping resultit in intense re-development an financin in Shanghai, an in 2005 Shanghai became the warld's lairgest cargo port.

The ceety is a tourist destination renouned for its historical landmarks such as the Bund an City God Temple, an its modern an iver-expandin Pudong skyline includin the Oriental Pearl Tower. Today, Shanghai is the lairgest centre o commerce an finance in mainland Cheenae, an haes been described as the "showpiece" o the warld's fastest-growin major economy.

## Etymology an Names
The twa Cheenese characters in the ceety's name are  (*shàng*) 'abuin' an  (*hǎi*) 'sea' which thegither literally mean 'Upper Sea'. The earliest occurrence o this name dates frae the Song Dynasty (11t century), at which time there wis awready a river confluence an a toun wi this name in the aurie. There are disputes as tae exactly hou the name shoud be interpretit, but offeecial local histories hae consistently said that it signifies 'The upper *reaches* o the sea'. Due tae the changin coastline, Cheenese historians hae concludit that in the Tang Dynasty Shanghai wis literally on the sea, hence the oreegin o the name. Anither readin an aa suggests the sense o "go ontae the sea," which is consistent wi the seaport status o the ceety. A mair poetic name for Shanghai switches the order o the twa characters, *Hǎishàng* (), an is aften uised for terms relatit tae Shanghainese airt an cultur.

Shanghai is commonly abbreviatit in Cheenese as *Hù* (simp: /trad: ). This character appears on aw motor vehicle license plates issued in the municipality today. This is derived frae *Hu Du* (simp: /trad: ), the name o an ancient fishin village that ance stood at the confluence o Suzhou Creek an the Huangpu River back in the Tang Dynasty. The character Hu is aften combined wi that for Song, as in Wusong Kou, Wu Song River, an Songjiang tae form the nickname **Song Hu**. For example, the Japanese attack on Shanghai in August 1937 is commonly cawed the Song Hu Battle. Anither early name for Shanghai wis Hua Ting, nou juist the name o a fower star hotel in the ceety. Ane ither commonly uised nickname *Shēn* () is derived frae the name o *Chunshen Jun *(), a nobleman an locally revered hero o the Chu Kinrick in the 3rd century BC whose territory includit the Shanghai aurie. Sports teams an newspapers in Shanghai aften use the character *Shēn* () in their names. Shanghai is an aa commonly cawed *Shēnchéng* (, "Ceety o Shēn").

## Twin touns an sister ceeties
Shanghai haes ceety pairtnerships wi the follaein ceeties an regions:

## References