China: Shanghai - Public execution of a convict in the Chinese Walled City (Nanshi), 1905.

The former Nanshi district, literally 'southern city', was the historic heart of Shanghai. It included the old, walled city as well as the nearby docklands on both sides of the Huangpu River. Shanghai County was established at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. A city wall was built to repel the Wokou, and this Ming Dynasty wall defined the extent of urban Shanghai for the next few centuries. In 1842, the area north of the old city was established as the British concession in Shanghai, which later became the Shanghai International Settlement. At the time, the concession was referred to by locals as the 'northern city' while the walled Chinese city was the 'southern city'. From this reference was later derived the name Nanshi or 'Southern city').