Why is Shanghai called the Paris of the East?

There is only one Paris in the world. There are many Parises in the world. Shanghai is called the Paris of the East, Beirut is called the Paris of the Middle East, Ulaanbaatar is called the Paris of Siberia, and Buenos Aires is called the Paris of South America. Of course, there is another Paris in this world - the Paris of France. Why is it Paris, rather than London, Berlin, and Rome, with so many supporters and imitators? Of course, you can also say that Suzhou is also known as the Venice of the East. But common sense tells us that no comparison can bring as much glory to a city as Paris. Why? Because Paris, as a model of a tourist city, satisfies almost all travelers’ romantic imagination of being “different”. Sociology believes that the development of tourism is positively related to the process of modernization. On the one hand, the development of modern transportation and the improvement of infrastructure construction in tourist destinations have provided tourists with good travel guarantees; on the other hand, ordinary people who are bound by modern industrial civilization need to travel to obtain things other than daily life. Another rhythm. In addition, in the pre-modern social period, different social systems each had a complete way of interpreting nature and culture. As this closed geographical awareness is broken, people increasingly need to re-understand themselves by getting to know others. Supply and demand are increasing at the same time, and it will be difficult for the tourism industry not to develop. Ultimately, the purpose of tourists is to seek a travel experience that is different from their daily lives. Some scholars divide tourists into five categories based on their purposes: “To return to real life better”, “To escape from real life”, “To seek the excitement of a different culture”, “To diversify oneself” and “To Completely immersed in another world." This classification method expresses the distance between travelers in real life and ideal foreign countries from near to far. Leaving reality aside for a moment, this may be the biggest motivation for most modern people to travel. So, the places that can best give this trip value are obviously those places that make people feel the most "extraordinary". Paris did its part. Paris has history, such as the Palace of Versailles, the Louvre, and the Arc de Triomphe; Paris has art, such as Van Gogh, Picasso, and the Georges Pompidou National Center for Arts and Culture; Paris has delicious food, including coffee, cheese, and red wine. Some people may say that New York is not inferior to Paris in these aspects, but there is one thing that only Paris has, and that is the romantic revolutionary epic - Bastille, Place de la Concorde, and Montmartre. Even if you are a die-hard conservative, you have to feel a little overwhelmed here. This is a city that cannot be fully described in any words in the world. However, if the purpose of tourists is to "seek a different life," then shouldn't they, who live in the shackles of modernity all day long, choose the exciting African grasslands, Amazon rainforest or even Arctic glaciers? Why are these places not more magical than Paris? The answer still has to be found in "reality". Let us go back and look at these five categories of tourists: Except for a very small number of people, most tourists are the first type of people, that is, after a short trip, they return to real life. This also requires that our tourism cannot be too far away from reality. So, it’s still Paris. Because she is different, but not that different. To put it more casually, Paris is the most cost-effective tourist destination between "leaving reality temporarily" and "returning to reality". You can be intoxicated by the splendor of the Palace of Versailles, and then swipe your credit card to buy a book about her; you can stare at Van Gogh's self-portrait for a long time, and then rest for a while in an air-conditioned museum; you can walk on Montmartre. , look for traces of the Paris Commune, and then take the metro back to your residence. In fact, Paris itself is the master of modern industrial civilization. Isn't the Eiffel Tower a witness and symbol of the development of Western industrial technology? However, the difference between Paris and Beijing is that her historical charm and modern civilization are perfectly combined without being artificial. A truly great traveler may not care about the huge gap between reality and dreams, but for most travelers, it is equally important to say goodbye to reality for a while. So Paris, which is different, is just right.