# Horesh and Sullivan, ‘Shanghai’, 2015 > [!cite] > Horesh, Niv, and Jonathan Sullivan. ‘Shanghai’. Oxford Bibliographies, last modified 15 January 2015. [https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199920082/obo-9780199920082-0110.xml](https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199920082/obo-9780199920082-0110.xml). --- ‘Not long after its establishment as a treaty port in 1842, and roughly until the Japanese invasion of China proper in 1937, Shanghai maintained a reputation as one of Asia’s most spellbinding, entrepreneurial, and freewheeling cities.’ [[Horesh and Sullivan, ‘Shanghai’, 2015|(Horesh and Sullivan 2015, n.p.)]] ^3e7137 ‘It had served as the mainland China’s commercial, industrial, and cultural hub during that period, and since 1991, it has indisputably re-emerged as China’s second most important city after the capital, Beijing.’ [[Horesh and Sullivan, ‘Shanghai’, 2015|(Horesh and Sullivan 2015, n.p.)]] ^4d307b ‘Yet, although first mentioned by name in Chinese records dating back to the 12th century, Shanghai was not among the 10 most populous cities on the mainland on the eve of Western settlement in 1842.’ [[Horesh and Sullivan, ‘Shanghai’, 2015|(Horesh and Sullivan 2015, n.p.)]] ^99fe85 ‘Perched advantageously 15 km downstream from the confluence of the Huangpu River, the Yangtze River (*Changjiang*), and the East China Sea, Shanghai’s Chinese population numbered around two hundred thousand inhabitants in 1842, most of whom resided within the ancient city walls.’ [[Horesh and Sullivan, ‘Shanghai’, 2015|(Horesh and Sullivan 2015, n.p.)]] ^2cd4a8 ‘Over twenty-three million people now reside in Shanghai, making it the most populous city in China, and one of the largest in the world.’ [[Horesh and Sullivan, ‘Shanghai’, 2015|(Horesh and Sullivan 2015, n.p.)]] ^e86ffb ‘Shanghai’s newly built port, sprawling tens of kilometers along the East China Sea, is the busiest in the world, and the skyscrapers in the Pudong district have come to symbolize China’s re-established economic power.’ [[Horesh and Sullivan, ‘Shanghai’, 2015|(Horesh and Sullivan 2015, n.p.)]] ^45e733