Destination: Shanghai
Overview Text Size A A A
In 1966, when Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution, he chose China’s former capital of vice, Shanghai, as the first place to excise the “four olds” (old customs, old habits, old culture and old ideas). The city that had once been known as the Paris of the Orient—thanks to its European-style boulevards and the fashionable folk from around the world who strolled them in the 1920s—became an example of hard-line Maoist reform. Foreigners who visited in the 1970s remember it as a place where everyone seemed to shuffle disconsolately along decaying streets in drab blue uniforms. Today, Shanghai is the heartbeat of the new capitalist superpower, a city that Merrill Lynch recently predicted would consume 20 percent of the world’s luxury goods by 2009. Already there are more cell-phone users in China than there are citizens of the United States.
Search By Keyword
Popular Destinations
Asia/Pacific: India: Indian Tented Camps
Seven tented camps, including two new luxury/eco ones. Plus: what...
U.S./Canada: Nevada: Las Vegas
Today, this desert city specializes in delivering fun 24/7—whatever that...
Indagare News Flash
- Editors’ Picks: Just Back From Cabo: Read our insider’s report on Cabo. Melissa’s Letter from Zurich. Guides to Courchevel and Verbier, where the skiing is better than it’s been in decades. Plus: Winter specials from travel partners.
- Member Advice Postcards from Hacienda San Antonio, Jerusalem, Parrot Cay and a first look at the Aman in Beijing.
- What’s your travel IQ? Take the quiz USA Today called “a killer” and establish your Indagare quotient.
- Indagare Insiders: Top picks in Fez from Suzanna Clarke. Marie Brandolini on Venice; the design duo behind Kirna Zabete on shopping the world. Plus: Coralie Charriol Paul on her favorite spots in Megeve.
- Reviews: In-depth guides to Buenos Aires, Delhi and Deer Valley.
- Indagare Plus: Remember that hotels marked by an Indagare Plus symbol offer preferential rates and benefits to members.
- Sample Indagare: By signing up for bi-weekly email blasts on new hot spots and insider tips. Join our mailing list.
- News: Indagare named Best Travel Website by Vanity Fair. Read an interview with our founder on Vivre.
- New feature: Members share your profiles, comments, favorite articles and IQs. Just click on the Profile tab on the upper right of your screen and look for the Edit My Profile blue tab.
- Indagare means to discover, explore, seek, scout in Latin.