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Alternative names

申 (Shēn / sén) or 申 城 (Shēnchéng / sén-zen, "Shen City") was an early name originating from Lord Chunshen, a 3rd-century BC nobleman and prime minister of the state of Chu, whose fief included modern Shanghai. Shanghai-based sports teams and newspapers often use Shen in their names, such as Shanghai Shenhua and Shen Bao.

华 亭 (Huátíng / gho-din) was another early name for Shanghai. In AD 751 during the mid-Tang dynasty, Huating County was established by Zhao Juzhen, the governor of Wu Commandery, at modern-day Songjiang, the first county-level administration within modern-day Shanghai. The first five-star hotel in the city was named after Huating.

魔 都 (Módū / mó-tu, "monster/fiend/magical city"), a contemporary nickname for Shanghai, is widely known among the youth. The name was first mentioned in Japanese novelist Shōfu Muramatsu 's 1924 novel Mato, which portrayed Shanghai as a dichotomous city where both light and darkness existed.

The city has various nicknames in English, including the " New York of China", in reference to its status as a cosmopolitan megalopolis and financial hub, the "Pearl of the Orient", and the "Paris of the East." This is similar to Ho Chi Minh City (also known as Saigon), in Vietnam, which has also been nicknamed as "Paris of the Orient," due to Vietnam's historical French status.