In the early 19th century，there were few images related with Shanghai port，which only appeared sporadically as illustrations in Western books about China. The stark even exaggerated mountains in the early images，highlighting the the interdependence between mountains and ports，made an exotic image of Shang-hai. However，it is not the real Shanghai but full of westerners’ imagination，which mainly derived from the images of South China ports familiar to Westerners during the “Canton Trade”，including early western paintings and Guangzhou Export paintings. The imagination and misunderstanding both reflect the marginal position of Shanghai in the cognition of Westerners in the early 19th century.