As China's most populous metropolis, Shanghai is a giant of a city that has been snoozing for the past few decades. Right now, Shanghai is more alive, more kicking and more optimistic than any city in China. Since market restrictions were lifted, Shanghai has embraced the forces of business and design and rewritten its rulebook shaping a fresh, new city that is sophisticated, innovative and living a life it has never lived before. It is in the middle of a building boom that is unprecedented, not just in China, but possibly in the entire world.

Shanghai is a haven for shoppers -- Nanjing Road is the number-one shopping street in all of China -- but perhaps even more importantly, Shanghai represents the future of China. Across the mighty Huangpu River, which served as old Shanghai's eastern border, Pudong, serving as the face of new Shanghai, now boasts the tallest hotel in the world, Asia's largest shopping mall, China's largest stock exchange, and one of the highest observation decks in Asia - the Oriental Pearl TV Tower.  

Shanghai is also reestablishing itself as a leading trendsetter for fashion, design, culture, and the arts. New theaters and cultural centers attract top performers from China and abroad, while designers of every stripe are taking advantage of the mix of the East, West, past, and future by blazing their own unique styles.