10 Nights Hong Kong to Hong Kong

Strategically located where the Yangtze River, Grand Canal and Pacific Ocean meet, Shanghai has served as a major commercial port since the Song Dynasty. From here, the region's substantial cotton crop was shipped to Beijing and more remote regions in China and Japan. By the Qing Dynasty, vast mercantile guilds, organized by trade, had established economic and a considerable amount of political control of the city. In the 1840s Shanghai was described by a representative of the British East India Company as the principle emporium of Eastern Asia. Not surprisingly after the Opium Wars the British moved in under the Treaty of Nanking, followed by the French, and set up the first foreign concession in the city. After years of stagnation, the great metropolis of Shanghai has undergone one of the most amazing economic expansions the world has ever seen. Street are crowded with every type of vehicle, and the horizon is dotted with skyscrapers. Stores with shiny glass fronts and chrome elevators boast shelves overflowing with a wide range of merchandise. Young women in fashionable Western clothes compare notes on the latest perfumes and makeup. Elegant dining establishments can be found next to traditional eateries a mind boggling selection offers every type of food from ethnic to international cuisine and Western fast food.