What an amazing view of today’s Shanghai!

Shanghai is one of the world’s busiest seaports and a major industrial and commercial center in China. It leads as a global financial, trade, and shipping center, and it ranks among the world’s largest cities by GDP and population. Mega-innovative Shanghai is also the world’s second-largest city by scientific outputs, ranking just under Beijing, which ranks number one.

As I began researching for my 3-month artist’s residency at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai, I soon realized that I wasn’t just going on another fabulous travel adventure.

It became apparent that I had been gifted with the very rarest of opportunities to write and paint about Shanghai at a time when China and its truly astounding 21st-century contributions would forever be written about in world history.

When I was a university student at American University in Washington, D.C., I took a yearlong course where we read everything from Plato to John Locke to Karl Marx and beyond. I was taught to read with an open mind and learn.

Without the usual Western fears or prejudice—and keeping an open mind—I must say that once again, China is showing the world that long-term planning, strategic thinking, and steady leadership are powerful tools for a nation’s progress.

For a foundational understanding of China’s thoughts and policies regarding what would lead to the manifestation of these awe-inspiring accomplishments, I highly recommend reading all the 600+ pages of XI JINPING, The Governance of China, V, Foreign Language Press, Beijing, 2025.

It’s an excellent read, and it helped me understand many of the 5-year plan steps taken to make all this smart city technology and sustainability become a reality.

HELLO HUANGPU RIVER

Flowing north through Shanghai is the Huangpu River. It is the last major tributary of the great Yangtze River before it empties into the East China Sea.

Qiantan Leisure Park, a revitalized waterfront park directly on the banks of the Huangpu River

Historically, along this river, Shanghai began as a small fishing village and market town. In the 19th century, Shanghai gained global prominence through its domestic and foreign trade and its favorable port locations.

Like many countries around the world, especially in the 20th century, rapid industrialization led to pollution becoming a significant problem; however, flowing directly from China’s central leadership in the 21st century, today Shanghai has become a city with a vision to promote “ecological civilization.”

What is ecological civilization?

Integrated into China’s policy, ecological civilization is a societal model prioritizing coexistence between people and nature. All along the Huangpu River, industrial brownfields are being transformed into a green, people-oriented waterfront.

As an artist preparing to paint Shanghai’s smart city technology and sustainability, and preparing in advance by seeking out visuals to learn from, it was not at all difficult to find an abundance of real-world examples.

According to AI, “Shanghai is undergoing significant ecological development, shifting from rapid economic growth to an ecological civilization focus, emphasizing green infrastructure, urban forestry, wetland restoration, new energy vehicles, green buildings, and biodiversity conservation through green networks, despite challenges from past land reclamation and ongoing urbanization. Key initiatives include creating vast parklands, implementing low-carbon policies, promoting circular economy practices, and integrating nature into urban design to improve air/water quality and resident well-being.”

Here are some photos I downloaded from my Adobe Stock subscription. I’m still here in Northern Michigan (USA) and dependent on stock photos, but I will be taking lots of pictures once I arrive in Shanghai for my 3-month stay, starting in February 2026.

Highway into Shanghai, with the red China Art Museum in the background.

Greenery along the Bund, a historically protected older district in Shanghai. My artist residency will be at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel, located on the Bund and along the Huangpu River. Shanghai is a super safe and friendly city, so I plan to take my morning walks here.

As much as I love learning from photos, I don’t usually paint from them. My process is to physically visit and experience different locations.

For me, I need to understand a location’s history (and reading and photos initially help), get to know its personality, and then try to connect with its spirit/soul.

I did this in the painting Sunshine Rising, which accurately captures many land locations in Northern Michigan. Along the shores of Lake Huron and inland, there are bursts of flowers. The soil is rich and the stems somewhat sparse, but there’s a gentle, delicate beauty all around. It’s a place to relax and experience sunshine and happiness.

Locals in this geographic area easily recognize their land’s particular personality and spirit in this art. From an online gallery in Paris, France, this painting sold within a week or so to a business owner I did not know, right here in Northern Michigan.

The day after it sold, a retired engineer, building a new home in Northern Michigan, saw the painting on one of my Facebook posts and asked to buy it. (I told him I’d make him another one. LOL!)

The art itself has also been appreciated internationally. As soon as it was made public, it was included in the Fragments Of The Present Curation by a curator in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France.

Here is another painting, this one is an abstract inspired by water movement and a geographic location. It was included in the Tides and Traces Curation, Dubai, UAE.

When I get to Shanghai, I will be looking for specific locations, including ones along the Huangpu River, that speak to me artistically. (I’m sure there will be too many to pick from.)

My goal will be to paint evidence-based design floral Impressionism unique to Shanghai, and also to paint abstract art inspired by Shanghai’s many innovative and truly awe-inspiring technological and sustainability achievements.

I recently watched an amazing video on the China Daily news website where Shanghai moved an entire historic building complex using advanced robots. In 2025, Shanghai moved and then put back in place a 7,500-ton historically significant Shikumen-style complex in order to build an underground infrastructure.

Now, that’s preserving heritage, while enabling new development, and demonstrating amazing innovation for urban renewal!

To learn more about me and my art, click here: DOROTHEA SANDRA ART

I have been given the great honor of participating in the SWATCH ART PEACE HOTEL artist residency program in Shanghai, China. From mid-February to mid-May 2026, I will be staying at the hotel, where I will receive living and art studio space.

My delight and focus will be to combine science and art by painting smart city technology and sustainability accomplishments throughout beautiful Shanghai and other super fabulous places in China.

Many people have expressed a desire to follow these adventures. If you’d like to come along online, please sign up below.