Shanghai, in writer Zhang Sheng's eyes, is always full of Chinese flavor no matter what the city's identity is--an international metropolis in the 1920s and '30s or today's economic hub of China. 

"Before coming to Shanghai, I thought it was a westernized city with exoticism. But after settling down, I found that Shanghai was conservative both in its culture and its life," Zhang said.

Trait one: A sense of propriety

The word "conservative" that Zhang uses to describe Shanghai's culture and life may confuse many people. "'Conservative' as I use it here is not a derogatory term," he noted, "but refers to a sense of propriety."

In 1996, Ogilvy & Mather, an international advertising, marketing and public relations agency, chose three Chinese cities in which to advertise. Shenzhen, the first special economic zone on the Chinese mainland, was a "big village" with many people's dreams; Beijing, the capital city, was a "habitat of elites" and Shanghai, the largest city, was a "showcase."

"The idea of this advertisement was very interesting, as many people think that Shanghai has been very much influenced by Western cultures," Zhang said. "Although Shanghai had plenty of westernized 'showcases,' its inside remains Chinese."

Shanghai locals, according to Zhang, attach much importance to a sense of propriety and are careful to be proper in their daily interactions, which is consistent with traditional Chinese culture. They value traditional festivals and educate the younger generation to be polite.

There are also some hippies in Shanghai, but they are not as aggressive as those elsewhere. While the sense of propriety has gradually faded away in other cities, traditional Chinese culture is well preserved in Shanghai.

"That's why I said Shanghai is a city with a westernized face, but a Chinese heart," Zhang told Beijing Review.

Zhang said the sense of propriety also has its disadvantages. To some extent, it may limit Shanghai's development and creativity. For instance, famous writers and artists in Shanghai are fewer than in other places, and very few cultural events happen there. Moreover, the most powerful cultural resources, including music, arts, the publishing industry and media, are not in Shanghai.

Trait two: Open-mindedness and inclusivity

Born in 1969 in Jiaozuo City, central China's Henan Province, Zhang first came to Shanghai in 1989. But now he is considered a Shanghainese writer and professor.

As an old saying goes, "All for one, and one for all." Similarly, Zhang prefers "Shanghai for all, and all for Shanghai."

"There is no need for approval as a Shanghainese writer and critic," he said. "As long as you live in Shanghai and achieve something, people will recognize you as a Shanghainese scholar, which reflects the city's inclusiveness."

Shanghai is highly tolerant of deviation or heterodoxy, even when it's someone or something that locals really dislike or hate. Many other cities do not share this trait.

Having been to some other metropolises such as Beijing and Guangzhou, Zhang, upon arriving in Shanghai, felt that local youths and middle-aged people had a narrow vision in terms of culture and mentality. They knew little about other cities, and they easily doubted the merits of other cities.

Furthermore, they excluded non-locals. For instance, bus stop announcements at the time were all in Shanghai dialect. Few non-local graduates came to Shanghai for work, which resulted in a lack of population mobility in the city. Zhang believes that it was partly due to the hukou (household registration) system and many other reasons.

"Actually, this exclusive attitude is not Shanghai's inherent trait. I guess that on the Chinese mainland, an outsider could find a road named after his or her hometown only in Shanghai," Zhang said.

In the 1930s, Shanghai was very open-minded, attracting many academic elites and literary youths from all over the country. So-called Shanghainese writers such as Eileen Chang, Shi Zhecun, Mu Shiying and Liu Na'ou were not actually native to the city.

Today, Shanghai locals are more open-minded and more youths from other places are pouring into the city. It is rare to hear insults such as "hick" or "outsider" in the street anymore.

Trait three: The pursuit of success

Zhang believes that one will succeed in Shanghai if he or she has talent. Locals show their appreciation and respect to successful people.

"This is one of the reasons I like Shanghai so much," Zhang told Beijing Review. "In Shanghai, no matter where you come from, you will be readily accepted if you achieve success in your profession."

Although the market in Shanghai was not yet mature, in the 1920s the competition between foreign businessmen, between local businessmen and their foreign counterparts, and between local businessmen was intense. In other words, those who could set foot in Shanghai would make a fortune. Gradually, Shanghai became a melting pot which cast and shaped many business elites.

Today, Shanghai businessmen as modern Chinese business elites impress people most for their diverse commercial means and open-mindedness in management. The pursuit of success is a fundamental Shanghainese trait.

Nevertheless, Zhang pointed out that Shanghai's primary criterion for success—money—is relatively simple, which suits and projects Shanghai's business image. Furthermore, many people living in Shanghai are gradually and unconsciously adopting this value, losing their real understanding of life and leisure time and becoming more snobbish.

Trait four: A multilayered cultural image

Everyone has his or her own interpretation of Shanghai.

Those who do not know much about the city get their information or images from books and movies. From their point of view, Shanghai, as projected by writer Eileen Chang or Hong Kong film director Wong Kar-Wai, is a luxurious westernized city with a dash of exoticism.

However, as the city continues to open up, non-locals will deepen their understanding through communication with locals.

In recent years, a common view shared by the media and public at home and abroad is that writer Eileen Chang represents the literary spirit of Shanghai. But Zhang disagreed, saying that Shanghai's image--a delicate, stingy and carefully calculated city--has been stereotyped and abstracted through Eileen Chang's works and other neo-sensualistic writers.

"That was what Shanghai looked like in the 1940s in Chang's eyes," Zhang said. "Don't forget the dynamic Shanghai in the 1930s as seen through the eyes of famous writers like Mao Dun and Lu Xun, who are overlooked today."

Zhang said that after the founding of New China in 1949, the life of Chinese people including Shanghainese tended to be communal and lack privacy until the 1990s.

Nevertheless, Eileen Chang was good at writing about people's private lives, with family and love as major subjects in her heyday. In fact, what she wrote about was not only limited to Shanghai's appearance, but was more about Shanghainese minds and attitudes.

Consequently, with the absence of a private life at the time, Chang's works managed to cater to a mass audience and also fit exactly the imaginary image of Shanghai in most people's minds. No wonder her works became so popular and have been advocated by so many readers.

"This explains why Chang has been considered a cultural representative of Shanghai in recent years," Zhang said.

According to Zhang, the particularities of Shanghai's literature, namely Shanghai school literature, were nurtured and shaped by all the writers in Shanghai around the 1930s, and Eileen Chang could only present one of those stages.

"Today, as people get used to privacy, they will value communal space again," he added.