Shanghai Hongqiao

Wuhan

Shanghai (Chinese: 上海, Shanghainese pronunciation: [zɑ̃.hɛ] ; Mandarin Chinese pronunciation: [ʂâŋ.xài] ) is one of the four municipalities of the People's Republic of China. Located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze with a population of 24.2 million as of 2018, it is the most populous urban area in China, and the second most populous city proper in the world (after Chongqing). Shanghai is a global financial, innovation and technology, and transportation hub, with the world's busiest container port.Originally a fishing village and market town, Shanghai grew in importance in the 19th century due to trade and its favorable port location. The city was one of five treaty ports forced open to foreign trade after the First Opium War. The Shanghai International Settlement and the French Concession was established subsequently. The city then flourished to a primary commercial and financial hub of the Asia-Pacific region in the 1930s. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the city was the site of the major Battle of Shanghai. After the war, with the CPC takeover of mainland China in 1949, trade was limited to other socialist countries, and the city's global influence declined. In the 1990s, economic reforms introduced by Deng Xiaoping resulted in an intense re-development of the city, especially the Pudong district, aiding the return of finance and foreign investment to the city. The city has since re-emerged as a hub for international trade and finance; it is the home of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, one of the world's largest by market capitalization, and the Shanghai Free-Trade Zone, the first free-trade zone in China.Shanghai has been described as the "showpiece" of the booming economy of mainland China. The city is renowned for its Lujiazui skyline, museums, and historic buildings—including the City God Temple, the Yu Garden, the China pavilion, and those along the Bund—and for its sugary cuisine and unique dialect, Shanghainese. Every year, Shanghai hosts numerous national and international events, including Shanghai Fashion Week, the Chinese Grand Prix, and Chinajoy.

Wuhan ([ù.xân] ; simplified Chinese: 武汉; traditional Chinese: 武漢) is the capital and largest city of the Chinese province of Hubei. It is the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over 10 million, the seventh most populous Chinese city, and one of the nine National Central Cities of China. It lies in the eastern Jianghan Plain, on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River's intersection with the Han river. Arising out of the conglomeration of three cities, Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang, Wuhan is known as "China's Thoroughfare" (九省通衢), and holds sub-provincial status. Wuhan's history dates 3500 years. It was where Wuchang Uprising occurred, which led to the downfall of the Qing dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China. Wuhan was briefly the capital of China in 1927 under the left wing of the Kuomintang (KMT) government led by Wang Jingwei. The city later served as the wartime capital of China in 1937 for ten months during the Second Sino-Japanese War. During the Chinese Cultural Revolution, an armed conflict between two hostile groups who were fighting for control over the city became known as the Wuhan incident. Wuhan today is considered as the political, economic, financial, commercial, cultural and educational center of Central China. It is a major transportation hub, with dozens of railways, roads and expressways passing through the city and connecting to other major cities. Because of its key role in domestic transportation, Wuhan is sometimes referred to as "the Chicago of China" by foreign sources. The "Golden Waterway" of the Yangtze River and its largest tributary, the Han River, traverse the urban area and divides Wuhan into the three districts of Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang. The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge crosses the Yangtze in the city. The Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest power station in terms of installed capacity, is located nearby. While Wuhan has been a traditional manufacturing hub for decades, it is also one of the areas promoting modern industrial changes in China. Wuhan consists of three national development zones, four scientific and technological development parks, over 350 research institutes, 1,656 hi-tech enterprises, numerous enterprise incubators, and investments from 230 Fortune Global 500 firms. It produced GDP of US$ 224 billion in 2018. The Dongfeng Motor Corporation, an automobile manufacturer, is headquartered in Wuhan. Wuhan is home to multiple notable institutes of higher education, including Wuhan University, which was ranked third nationwide in 2017, and the Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Historically, Wuhan has suffered risks of flooding, prompting the government to alleviate the situation by introducing ecologically friendly absorption mechanisms. The Wuhan Gymnasium held the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship and will be one of the venues for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. The 7th Military World Games will be hosted from Oct. 18 to 27, 2019 in Wuhan. In 2017, Wuhan was designated as a Creative City by UNESCO, in the field of design. Wuhan is classified as a Beta world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.