Essentials: Shanghai

1) Excuse me? Shanghai has its own language that hardly anyone else in China understands? That’s right, more than 13 million people speak Shanghainese, a mishmash of Chinese dialects, English, French, and other languages. However, Shanghainese is only spoken, the written and official language is Mandarin.

2) No other city in the world has as many art deco buildings as Shanghai. Famous buildings include the Metropole Hotel and the former Bank of China.

3) The fastest elevator in the world is located in the Shanghai Tower: it travels at 65 km/h to reach the 118th floor in 55 seconds.

4) With more than 500 stations, a route length of 802 kilometers, and over 3.5 billion passengers a year, Shanghai has the largest subway network in the world.

5) So pure, elegant, and beautiful: the white Yulan magnolia has been the official city flower since 1986. It blooms and fills the air with its fragrance in many of Shanghai’s parks and green spaces in spring.