Has been the trading epicenter forever both in and out of chinaoSilks, teas, etcTons and tons of moneyHighly cultured and wealthy even 100 years agoThere is an upper and middle classVibrant and hugely urbanThere are poor people, like in any cityShowing the before and after of the Japanese occupationo1937-1945 “WWII” or Japan’s imperial rise and attempted conquest of all of asiaspecifically chinaoResult of decades long Japanese attempt to dominate Asia, Australia, and IndiaoThey needed resources, labor, and stuffSecond Sino Japanese war 1937-1945 – Japanese Imperialistic military invasion (WWII)oThe first 1894-1895oControl over Korean peninsulaoJapan dominated and china went into declineoOne of the first fights Japan pickedThis was pretty intentionalChina was kind of in-charge of KoreaThey wanted the resources and laborNorth eastern ChinaMarco polo bridge incident 7 July 1937oThe spark of the full second waroJapanese picked a fight on purpose and baited Chinesetroops to shoot at them and then invaded manchuriaoLargest Asian war in the 20thcenturyoJapan took over costal China – major cities first.