Ningbo, China
Tourism

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dubbed ''Little Shanghai''.

As long ago as the Qin period, about 2300 years ago, the city was of considerable importance. Under the Tang dynasty (618-907) it grew to be one of the most important ports in China. When the Song dynasty moved its seat of government to Hangzhou in 1127, Ningbo's prosperity grew in leaps and bounds. By the 16th C foreign ships were already calling at the port, and over the centuries, only the Ningbo merchants were entitled to trade with Korea and Japan. After the treaty of Nanjing which concluded the 1st Opium War in 1842, the harbor of Ningbo was opened for trade with England and soon after for ships from other European countries and America. The first modern factories were established around the middle of the 19th C.

Today, Ningbo has been awarded the status of ''coastal port open for foreign trade'', and has been able, in the last few years, to make considerable progress in the industrial and shipping sectors.