Shanghai which is located on China’s central eastern coast, is the largest Chinese city. It is also amongst the largest metropolitan areas around the globe. Shanghai has a population of more than 20 million people. It is also the largest city of the world in terms of population. The males form the majority of the population compared to the women. The city falls under the administration of People’s Republic of China as a municipality.

Shanghai has a very favorable port location and because of this it gained importance in the 19^th century. The Treaty of Nanking in the past opened the city to foreign trade and it emerged as a commercial centre between the east and the west. The city had to undergo ups and downs in the past with regard to its prosperity. In the year 2005, the city became the world’s largest cargo port. Shanghai is considered to be the biggest place of commerce and finance in china and is also given the title “showpiece” when we talk about fastest growing major economies in the world.

Shanghai is loved by the tourists as it has a never ending list of places to visit. It is known for its historical landmarks. Amongst the places to visit are City God Temple, the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel, Shanghai Ocean Aquarium, Shanghai Natural History Museum, Dongping National Forest Park, Oriental Pearl Tower and others. The city has now acquired a reputation of cultural cosmopolitan center.

The people of Shanghai have their origins from the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. They moved to Shanghai and settled there in the early twentieth century and late nineteenth century. There are people who have migrated to Shanghai from other parts of China also for work in the past decades.

The local language of Shanghai is a dialect of Wu Chinese. But officially people speak Standard Mandarin.  Based upon the Suzhou dialect of Wu, the Ningbo dialect of Wu and the dialect of Shanghai’s other traditional areas is the modern Shanghainese dialect. Mandarin is easily spoken by all the people of Shanghai under 40 years of age. There is no general pattern for people speaking foreign languages in Shanghai.