“靠山吃山，靠水吃水。”
Kào shān chī shān, kào shuǐ chī shuǐ.
“Those who live near the mountain eat from the mountain; those who live near the water eat from the water.”
Visiting Shanghai also means learning to read it through its relationship with the sea. The port is not an “extra” destination, not a detour: it is one of its most authentic expressions, the one that reveals better than any skyline how this city has grown, changed, and become the main link between China and the world.
Shanghai and the sea: an identity that runs through China’s veins
In Shanghai, the harbor is not an “elsewhere”-it is an integral part of the city, like traditional lilongs, markets or temples . The economic, cultural and social life of the metropolis originated here-from the fishing boats that plied the Yangtze delta to the foreign vessels that brought new trade and cultures in the 19th century.
Modern Shanghai, that of skyscrapers and finance, has not erased this seafaring identity: it has simply pushed it to the extreme, turning it into the busiest port on the planet. And to visit it is to get in touch with the true industrious, dynamic and cosmopolitan soul of the city.
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The industrial poem of the port of Shanghai
When you stand on the Donghai Bridge, or on Da’ao Hill, you realize that the port is not just a place where goods are moved.
It is a landscape, almost an industrial poem:
- red cranes as ideograms
- the stacked containers that look like abstract paintings
- the deep noise of container ships
- the sea mist that envelops everything in a milky light
Its harbor is the place that tells Shanghai better than many museums, because it shows its concrete energy, the kind you can touch, feel on your skin.
Joseph Conrad would probably have smiled upon seeing him and repeated his words:
“The sea is the great revealer: it brings to light all that the earth conceals.”
Shanghai as seen from the harbor: a key to understanding the city
Looking at Yangshan from above, you realize that Shanghai is not just about technology, luxury, and modernity.
It is discipline, ingenuity, labor, seafaring communities that still respect the tides and celebrate Mazu, the goddess of the sea.
It is a city that lives with the sea and of the sea:
- In theevening cruises on the Huangpu,
- In the old river port docks,
- in the islands where fishermen dry their nets as they did a hundred years ago,
- in restaurants where the fish comes to the table still smelling of saltiness.
Where to eat: restaurants offering flavors of the Shanghai sea
And food itself, as always in China, becomes a language. Around the harbor and on the islands connected to Yangshan you find places to taste the most genuine Shanghai.
Shengsi Seafood Restaurant – Shengsi Archipelago
Perfect for shrimp, blue crabs and steamed fish. Don’t miss hai xian pinpan, the mixed seafood dish.
Xiushan Fishermen’s Kitchen – Xiushan Island
Simple seafood cuisine: grilled fish, sautéed shellfish, light soups with ginger and seaweed.
Nanshan Seafood Village – near Donghai Bridge
Convenient if you move between Yangshan and Pudong. Try the clam soup: it is a perfect comfort food on windy days.
Chaozhou Noodle House – Pudong Port Area
Great for a quick meal: noodles with seafood, flavorful broths, and large portions.
Why the port belongs to the Shanghai trip
Not because it is a different stage, but because it is Shanghai.
The Shanghai of global trade, of its centuries of cultural exchange, of its identity as a city of water. The Shanghai that looks to the future from the longest bridge in the East and at the same time recalls its origins in fishermen’s nets.
To visit the port is to truly understand the city: its speed, its courage, its contradictions, its ancient and very deep relationship with the sea.
And as you watch a ship depart, you are reminded ofthe Chinese poet Li Bai, who wrote:
“The waters flow endlessly, like the journey of man.”
In Shanghai this journey always begins – and ends – on the water
