Shanghai diaries

Three documentary series capture the city's transformation from a fishing village to a financial hub.

The site of the Jiangnan General Manufacturing Bureau. Founded in 1865, it was among the earliest industrial enterprises in China. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Shanghai Television is airing Grand Shanghai, an eight-episode documentary series presenting the 176-year history of the municipality. It chronicles Shanghai's transformation from a fishing village to a global financial hub since its opening to the world. One episode a night is shown on the documentary channel of the network, with the last episode scheduled for Monday.

"The influx of foreign culture and capital is the external contributing factor to make Shanghai what it is today," says Xu Guanqun, chief director of the documentary.

"The original, exquisite culture based on its location in the Jiangnan region-the area south of the Yangtze River-is the core that supports the city to thrive and find new ideas," says Xu.

The remains of the Sihang Warehouse, a battlefield of the Battle of Songhu, during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45). [Photo provided to China Daily]

The production team visited historical sites, featured people who witnessed the city's growth and sought data from over 60 overseas archives and libraries, including the British Library, the National Portrait Gallery in the United Kingdom and Yale University in the United States.

"We desire to make Shanghai better understood, along with the goal of reviving its history," says producer Han Yun.

"Why is the city the birth place of the Communist Party of China? How did it combine the domestic and international cultures? These questions will be answered by the documentary," she says.

The city's openness is rooted in its history, and its evolution has been shaped by education, finance and science, she adds.

Some stories like the expansion of foreign concessions in Shanghai are illustrated via sand paintings by Chinese painter Gao Jie.