A photo exhibition featuring nearly 100 images of Shanghai, along with several documentaries and short videos, opened on May 7 in Valparaiso, a coastal Chilean city and friendship city of Shanghai.

The exhibition, titled Charming Shanghai, Unlimited Future, is being held at Valparaiso City Hall.

Running through May 20 in Valparaiso, the exhibition will also be held in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, from May 11 to 17 as part of a touring program.

This marks the first time Shanghai has hosted an event in Valparaiso to promote its city image abroad.

Through compelling photography, documentaries, and videos, the exhibition vividly showcases Shanghai's economic growth, social progress, and urban charm.

It is co-hosted by the Information Office of Shanghai Municipality and the Valparaiso City Government, with support from the Foreign Affairs Office of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government.

All photographs on display come from the IP Shanghai platform, a city image resource hub featuring contributions from professional photographers, artists, residents, and tourists alike.

Organizers hope the exhibition will foster mutual understanding and further deepen the long-standing friendship between the two cities.

Shanghai and Valparaiso established friendship-city relations in July 2001. This year marks the 24th anniversary of that relationship and the 55th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Chile.

The exhibition opens with images of the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek, the two mother rivers of Shanghai, before guiding visitors through the city's urban evolution.

One highlight is the dramatic transformation of the Lin-gang Special Area from windswept mudflats to a hub of openness and innovation in just five years.

The area now houses both the Tesla Gigafactory and the Megafactory.

Yangshan Deepwater Port, a global shipping hub with strong connections to South America, is also spotlighted in the exhibition.

Located at the mouth of Hangzhou Bay, the port handled over 26 million twenty-foot equivalent units of containers in 2024, making it the world's busiest container port for the 15th consecutive year.

It serves as a vital maritime link between China and Latin American countries, including Argentina and Chile.

In tourism and cultural exchanges, Shanghai is also looking to South America.

International cruise lines now include South American destinations in their Shanghai departures.

For instance, the Sapphire Princess offers 30–32 day itineraries to Antarctica and five South American countries, with stops in cities such as Santiago and Valparaiso in Chile, and Buenos Aires and Ushuaia in Argentina.

Other highlights of the exhibition include Shanghai's waterfront slow-traffic system, featuring ecological and cultural corridors along the Suzhou Creek and Huangpu River, and major events such as the Tour of Chongming Island International Road Cycling Race.

Source: Shanghai Observer