Queen Elizabeth II in Shanghai
September 9, 2022 – As the world bids a sad farewell to Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s much beloved and longest-serving monarch, we take a look back on her historic trip to Shanghai, in October 1986.
The Queen visited Shanghai on October 15, 1986 — the first and only British monarch to set foot on the Chinese mainland. It was a visit a long time in coming: Her ancestor, Queen Elizabeth I, had tried to get the ball rolling in 1602 with a letter to Ming Emperor Shen Zong 神宗 with the idea that their two great nations establish trade. She was met with deafening silence from Cathay – apparently the ship carrying the missive had gone down – and she turned to other pursuits.
Things went better this time around: at a banquet at the Great Hall of the People, the Queen noted that communication had improved considerably in the intervening centuries and she was pleased to receive the invitation to visit. She was greeted at Hongqiao Airport by then-Shanghai Party Secretary Jiang Zemin, and feted by a sea of schoolchildren (news reports claimed 1,500-2,000 children were in attendance).
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