Geographic Location
Shanghai is situated at 31'14' north latitude and 121'29' east longitude. Bordering on Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces on the west, Shanghai is washed by the East China Sea on the east and Hangzhou Bay on the south. North of the city, the Yangtze River pours into the East China Sea. It also assumes the central location along China's coastal line. Thanks to its advantageous geographic location, Shanghai has today become an excellent sea and river port, boasting easy accesses to a vast hinterland. In early years after the Liberation, Shanghai was divided into 20 urban districts and 10 suburban districts. By the end of 2005 Shanghai had 18 districts and 1 county. There were 114 towns, 3 townships, 103 subdistrict committees, 3,365 neighborhood committees and 1,920 villagers' committees in the city.
Industrial Structure
The city has further optimized its industrial structure, thus constantly consolidating the foundation for its economic growth. In 2005, the realized added value in the city's secondary industry reached 447.592 billion yuan, up ?over 2000, or an annual increase of ?on average, according to the comparable prices. The realized added value in the tertiary industry totaled 458.838 billion yuan, up ?over 2000, or an annual increase of ?on average. The ratio of the city's primary industry, secondary industry and tertiary industry had changed from 1.8:47.6:50.6 in 2000 to 0.9:48.9:50.2 in 2005.
Banking on the large industrial centers and large projects, the city¡¯s industries achieved continued growth rate. In 2005, Shanghai realized an industrial added value of 415.523 billion yuan, up times from 2000 according to the comparable prices, representing an average annual growth rate of. Of the total, the heavy industrial sector made up for 291.293 billion yuan while light industrial sector accounted for 108.175 billion yuan. The city's total industrial output value reached 1,687.678 billion yuan, up 1.4 times from 2000 according to the comparable prices, representing an average annual growth of 19.2%.
Shanghai's high and new technology industries have been expanding rapidly. In 2005, the output value of the high and new technology industries totaled 482.667 billion yuan, up 22% over 2004. The figure made up 28.6% of the city's total industrial output. The output of the information and electronics sector reached 353.092 billion yuan, up 29.3%. The output of the city¡¯s optical-mechanical industries totaled 46.89 billion yuan, up 14.4%, and that of the biomedicine sector hit 23.369 billion yuan, up 11.7 percent.
Urban Construction
The city has made breakthroughs in the construction of hub-oriented, functional and networked infrastructures. For the 2001-2005 period, Shanghai invested a total of more than 325.721 billion yuan in its urban c
onstruction projects, representing an average annual growth of 12.6% and accounting for 24.6% of the total investment in the fixed assets in the same period. The progress in the city¡¯s infrastructure network has contributed greatly to further improving its investment environment, opening further to the outside world and enhance its comprehensive function.
Nanpu Bridge The 8,346-meter-long bridge has an under-clearance of 46 meters, thus allowing ships with a tonnage of 55,000 to pass under it. As a cable-stayed bridge, its main bridge is 846 meters long and 30.35 meters wide, divided into six lanes. The approaches have a combined length of 7,500 meters and the West Shanghai spiral approach is 3,754 meters long. The bridge called a total investment of 820 million yuan and was completed and opened to traffic on December 1, 1991. The bridge spans the Huangpu River like a flying dragon and it has helped the locals to make their dream of "having a bridge across the Huangpu River" come true. Yangpu Bridge Located 11 kilometers downstream, this is a sister bridge of the Nanpu Bridge. The two bridges act as two wings to help the Inner-Ring Road to fly across the Huangpu River. Also a cable-stayed bridge, the Yangpu Bridge is 7,658 meters long with a 1,172-meter-long main bridge and a 602-meter-wide main arch. With investment of 1.33 billion yuan, the bridge was opened to traffic in October 1993. With 208-meter-high sky-piercing pillars and hundreds of steel cables, the bridge stands aloft like a giant harp over the Huangpu River. Lupu Bridge With a total length of 8.7 kilometers, the bridge starts from Luban Road in Puxi, spans the Huangpu River and reaches Jiyang Road in Pudong. Its main section is 3.9 kilometers long and the southern extension 4.8 kilometers. Its main bridge is a whole-steel structure and it flies across the river with a 750-meter main arch. The main bridge has six traffic lanes and its approaches have four or six lanes. The bridge¡¯s under-clearance reaches 46 meters and it provides a water navigation lane of 340 meters wide. With a total investment of more than 2 billion yuan, the bridge opened to traffic in 2003.
Cultural and Historical Sites
Shanghai is a city with a long cultural history. By the end of 2005, there were cultural and historical sites listed under the state protection and under the city protection. In addition, there were city-listed memorial sites and protected locations. So far, the city has well preserved a number of relic sites and 
gardens dating back to the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. The 1,000-year-old Longhua Pagoda, the Jing¡¯an Temple, which was built during the Three-Kingdom Period, and the Jade Buddha Temple are frequented by visitors both from home and abroad. In addition, there are Yuyuan Garden in downtown, the Confucius Temple in Jiading, and the Square Pagoda and Zuibai Pond in Songjiang. Yuyuan Garden Construction of Yuyuan Garden started in 1559. Its layout features the garden styles of the southern part of the country during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Enjoying a lasting reputation as "Wooded Hill in City," the garden is very well preserved. Carved dragons wind across atop the walls which divide the garden into different scenes. The pavilions, ponds, man-made stone formations have formed 48 scenic spots in this small garden.
Longhua Temple Longhua Temple is the oldest, largest and most magnificent Buddhist architecture in Shanghai area. It is said that the temple was built in 247 AD. The temple, the pagoda, the temple fair and the evening bell chiming constitute a religious tourist attraction. Many Buddhist scriptures, gold seals and statues from the Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties, the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty are housed in a hall built in the Song Dynasty.
Zhujiajiao Ancient Water Town Known as the¡°Shanghai¡¯s Venice,¡±Zhujiajiao is a typical ancient water town in the south of the Yangtze River. It first appeared as a village market during the Three-Kingdom Period. Later, it became a bustling trade town in the Ming Dynasty. Today, visitors can still see many well-preserved buildings, bridges and stone lanes dating back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. This is a little quiet town where people can find antiquity, leisure and tranquility.
future objectives
Facing both opportunities and challenges in the 21st century, Shanghai has already set its middle- and long-term development goals: To build the city into one of the economic, finance, trade and transport centers in the world and a socialist modern international metropolis and by 2020. To keep the social and economic growth on a fast and sustained pace, make the World Expo 2010 successful, splendid and memorable, and establish a framework for an international center of economy, finance, trade and transport, make major progress toward building the city into a socialist modern international metropolis, lay a solid foundation for the city¡¯s sustained socioeconomic growth during 2011-2020.
To readjust and optimize the economic structure; continuously improve the city level of information utilization, market-oriented operation and the rule by law; bring into play the comprehensive advantages of an international metropolis; and sharpen the city's comprehensive competitive edge.
