According to Wiki, various foreign powers leased parts of China, including Shanghai, during the Qing Dynasty in 1842. Initially by the United Kingdom and later by Austria, Hungary, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Russia and the United States. In Shanghai, the Huang Pu river divides the city into Puxi and Pudong. The colonial buildings that the foreigners built stood on the Puxi side. After they left, the Chinese started building the tallest buildings in the world on the Pudong side. The message: we will rise taller than you. This theory was shared with me by my Shanghainese colleague.
For more information:
Leave a Reply