Shanghai, also called in short in Chinese "Hu" or "Shen", situated at 31.14 degrees north latitude and 121.29 degrees east longitude, in the middle of China's east coastline, is a gate to the Changjiang River valley. Bordering on Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces on the west, Shanghai is washed by the East China Sea on the east and Hangzhou Bay on the south. North of the city, the Yangtze River pours into the East China sea.

　　Topographic Features
　　Except for a few hills lying in the southwest corner, most parts of the Shanghai area are flat and belong to the alluvial plain of the Yangtze River Delta. The average sea level elevation is about four metres.