Shanghai Hongqiao

Haerbin West

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.

Harbin (Manchu: ᡥᠠᠯᠪᡳᠨ; Chinese: 哈尔滨 Hā'ěrbīn) is the capital of Heilongjiang province, and largest city in the northeastern region of the People's Republic of China. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, Harbin has direct jurisdiction over nine metropolitan districts, two county-level cities and seven counties. Harbin is the eighth most populous Chinese city according to the 2010 census, the built-up area (which consists of all districts except Shuangcheng and Acheng) had 5,282,093 inhabitants, while the total population of the sub-provincial city was up to 10,635,971. Harbin serves as a key political, economic, scientific, cultural, and communications hub in Northeast China, as well as an important industrial base of the nation.Harbin, whose name was originally a Manchu word meaning "a place for drying fishing nets", grew from a small rural settlement on the Songhua River to become one of the largest cities in Northeast China. Founded in 1898 with the coming of the Chinese Eastern Railway, the city first prospered as a region inhabited by an overwhelming majority of immigrants from the Russian Empire.Having the most bitterly cold winters among major Chinese cities, Harbin is heralded as the Ice City for its well-known winter tourism and recreations. Harbin is notable for its beautiful ice sculpture festival in the winter. Besides being well known for its historical Russian legacy, the city serves as an important gateway in Sino-Russian trade today. In the 1920s, the city was considered China's fashion capital since new designs from Paris and Moscow reached here first before arriving in Shanghai. The city was voted "China Top Tourist City" by the China National Tourism Administration in 2004.