Why is Shanghai called Paris of the East?

There is only one Paris in the world. There are many parishes in the world. Shanghai is called Paris of the East, Beirut is called Paris of the Middle East, Ulaanbaatar is called Paris of Siberia, and Buenos Aires is called Paris of South America. Of course, there is also a Paris in this world-Paris in France. Why are there so many admirers and imitators in Paris but not in London, Berlin and Rome? Of course, you can also say that Suzhou is also called Venice of the East. But common sense tells us that no one can bring great glory to a city like Paris. Why? Because Paris, as a model of a tourist city, almost satisfies the romantic imagination of all travelers who are "different". Sociology believes that the development of tourism is positively related to the modernization process. On the one hand, the development of modern means of transportation and the improvement of infrastructure construction in tourist destinations provide good travel protection for tourists; On the other hand, ordinary people who are bound by modern industrial civilization need to travel to get another rhythm besides their daily life. In addition, in the pre-modern society, different social systems have their own complete ways to explain nature and culture. With the breaking of this closed regional consciousness, people increasingly need to know themselves again by knowing others. With the simultaneous increase of supply and demand, it is difficult for tourism not to develop. In the final analysis, the purpose of tourists is to seek a different travel experience from daily life. Some scholars divide tourists into five categories according to their purposes: in order to better return to real life, to escape from real life, to seek the stimulation of different cultures, to diversify themselves, and to completely immerse themselves in another world. This classification expresses the distance between the traveler's real life and the ideal foreign land from near to far. Farewell to reality, which may be the biggest motivation for most modern people to travel. Then, the place that can give this trip the most value is obviously the place that can make people feel "extraordinary" the most. Paris is doing its part. Paris has history, Versailles, Louvre, Arc de Triomphe; Paris has national art and cultural centers of art, Van Gogh, Picasso and George Pompidou; Paris has delicious food, coffee, cheese and red wine. Some people may say that new york is not inferior to Paris in these aspects, so there is only one thing in Paris, and that is the romantic revolutionary epic-Bastille, Place de la Concorde and Montmartre Heights. Even if you are a conservative, you must be full of feelings. This is a city that can't be completely described by the words of the whole world. However, if the purpose of tourists is to "seek a different life", shouldn't they choose the exciting African grasslands, Amazon rainforests and even Arctic glaciers that live in modern shackles all day? Why are these places more magical than Paris? The answer is still to be found in "reality". Let's review the classification of these five kinds of tourists: except for a few people, most tourists are the first kind, that is, after a short trip, they return to real life. This also requires that our travel should not be too far away from reality. So, it is still Paris. Because she's different, not that different. To put it more bluntly, Paris is the most cost-effective tourist destination between "temporarily leaving reality" and "returning to reality". You can revel in the splendor 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 in an air-conditioned museum. You can walk in Montmartre Heights, look for the footprints of the Paris Commune, and then take the subway back to your residence. In fact, Paris itself is the epitome 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 is perfectly combined with modern civilization without affectation. A truly great traveler may not care about the huge gap between reality and dreams, but for most tourists, it is equally important to bid farewell to reality, although farewell is necessary. Therefore, the unique Paris is just right.