Do you know the two most important things a port city must have? Think about what you've learned about port cities the Boomerang Box has visited, because every major port has these two most important features in common.

Have you figured out the answer? The two things are:

1. Goods to trade; and
2. An easy way to transport them.

This is certainly true in Shanghai, where the Boomerang Box is traveling now. Shanghai is China's biggest city and a very important port. In 1999, in fact, the Port of Shanghai handled over 4 million TEUs (remember, a TEU is a twenty-foot equivalent unit - equal to a 20-foot long container).

But how did Shanghai become such major port? Well, let's look first at where Shanghai is located.

Shanghai is located on the Huangpu River near where it joins the Yangtze River near the East China Sea. The Yangtze is China's longest river. It stretches 3,434 miles going roughly east-west, beginning far across China in the Kunlun Mountains. Ocean-going vessels can travel a full 600 miles inland on the Yangtze from its mouth at the East China Sea.

Because of its location on the river, Shanghai has always been a natural stopping point for ships traveling to and from inland cities. Farm produce and other goods can easily get to Shanghai on the Yangtze and its Grand Canal system. Once in Shanghai, goods going to other countries can quickly move out to the East China Sea. In addition to the river and the sea, Shanghai is also a major rail junction, making it easy to get goods to and from cities in North and South China.

We can now see that Shanghai has at least one of the two most important features of a port city: it can transport goods easily. Between the Yangtze River, the East China Sea, and the railroad, Shanghai can move goods to the north, south, east, and west.

But what does it trade?

Shanghai was first settled in the 11th century. It was a small fishing village for many hundreds of years. That's not too surprising. After all, Shanghai is located on two rivers and a sea so fishing is a logical thing for its residents to do! But Shanghai is also located in the middle of good cotton-growing country, and it eventually began to trade cotton with other cities in China. Shanghai did not trade with the outside world until 1842 when the Treaty of Nanking with Great Britain was signed. This treaty came about following the Opium War, which we studied when we examined the history of tea.

Today, Shanghai trades all sorts of things, from steel and paper to chemicals, cars, and equipment. Thanks to its geography, Shanghai has always had things to trade and an easy way to move them, two very important things for any port city.

Research Questions

1. Learn more about Shanghai's cultural life and government. These two web sites can help you: www.sh.com and www.shanghai.gov.cn. Write a one-page paper about what you learn.

2. The Chinese Government has been making some major to the Yangtze River through the construction of the Three Gorges Dam. Can you learn more about the dam project? Use the library or Internet. Write a one-page paper about what you learn.

Check out past Trade Topics entries!