RSS FeedCity memory
The Old City lies at the very center of the story of Shanghai, since this is the heart around which modern Shanghai has grown. Intensely crowded and effervescent in spirit; it is perhaps the only concentrated remnant of Shanghai's native past that has survived into the modern age. Here, a sea of black glazed ceramic roofs dominates the area and multiple curio-lined streets create a wonderful fabric, webbing together the old and the new.
For 2,000 years, the Old City has occupied a circular grid along the western bank of the Huangpu River (Huangpu Jiang). Today, the boundary of the Old City is defined by the semi-circular path of Renmin Lu in the north and Zhonghua Lu in the south. But the Old City was bound into shape by the city wall and moat that once circumscribed it. The five-kilometer long wall was built in 1553, during the Ming Dynasty, as a defense against Japanese pirates. It had six gates and four water entrances but was demolished in 1912, during the first year of the post-Qing Republican regime, to make way for modern development. Old city in shanghai prolongs the city memory. More old city memory continued later.
Aritcile source: www.echinacities.com