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at the turn of the twentieth century was the place to be. Foreign businessmen, Chinese
migrants, and adventurers of all sorts converged on the then business capital of the Far
East. Opium was the rage, parties were wild, and decadence was a way of life. It was an
extraordinary mixture of conspicuous consumption and poverty, of refinement and
immorality, of leisure and harsh working conditions. Immortalized in books and films, Old
Shanghai became the epitome of glamour - its bustling polyglot population straddling both
east and west. Old Shanghai died with the Chinese Communist victory in 1949.
Foreigners and wealthy Chinese fled. Drugs and nightlife vanished. Lumbering state-run
enterprises replaced vibrant private companies. Anyone visiting Shanghai 40 years after
the take-over inevitably felt a stab of regret. Instead of the city hailed before China's
1949 revolution as the Queen of the Pacific and the Paris of the East, they found a
depressed industrial city forgotten by the world.
Not any more. Few visitors leave China's largest city these days without
expressing wonder at its renaissance. Pegged by China's leaders in the 1990s to reassert
itself as an international business hub and drive growth along the mighty Yangtze River,
Shanghai in breakneck time has erected elevated highways, glittering skyscrapers, and
stately cultural venues. College graduates find jobs in finance and other capitalist
fields; once drab bureaucrats wear well-cut business suits; and young people pack
neon-flashing discos. Foreign investors are again flocking to the city. Dead to the world
for over 40 years, Shanghai has at last been reborn. But in what form and toward what
future?
Weaving anecdotes with analysis, author Pamela Yatsko's lively narrative addresses
key aspects of the city's rebirth: the building spree of the 1990s; Shanghai's
resurrection as a financial center; its drive to remain a manufacturing powerhouse; its
cultural reawakening; the growing divide between rich and poor; the return of
fortune-hunting foreign business; and the revival of notorious Old Shanghai vices:
nightlife, drugs and prostitution. The author breaks through the hype surrounding
Shanghai's re-emergence to present a realistic picture of the legendary city and the
challenges it faces fulfilling its aspirations.
New Shanghai: The Rocky Rebirth of China's Legendary City is a work of exceptional
richness and observation. Beautifully constructed and written, author Pamela Yatsko, draws
from conversations with Shanghainese across all sectors of society and incidents, past and
present, to give readers a sense of the tumult that has rocked urban China in the 1990s.
By painting pictures of Shanghai today, it provides a better understanding of Shanghai and
China tomorrow.
A groundbreaking book, New Shanghai is a compelling read for anyone who wants
insight into Shanghai, and its potential in the 21st century.
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