Shànghăi

Shànghăi with a population around 17 million, is both an industrial city and China's financial capital. The city is divided in two by the Huángpŭ River just before it flows into the Yangtze River (Cháng Jiāng) and thence to the East China Sea. The eastern side of the Huángpŭ is Pǔdōng New District and on the west of the Huángpŭ is Pŭxī.

Pǔdōng is a special economic zone that has gone from fields in the early 1990's to huge skyscrapers, the financial district and large residential complexes.

Pŭxī is the Shànghăi of old, containing the French Concession and the other European areas, including the famous Bund (Wàitān) along the river bank plus the main shopping and residential areas of this sprawling city.

As an avid bird watcher in this country where the cities appear mostly devoid of birds (the exception being sparrows!), unless you count a large variety in the local markets, click here to see my Shànghăi list.