Songfacts®:

• John Denver was surprisingly popular in China, where his 1971 song "Take Me Home Country Roads" was an unlikely hit. In 1979, he performed for China's leader, Deng Xiaoping, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., earning him an invitation to visit the country, which he did. "Shanghai Breezes" was inspired by that trip; the song expresses the wonders he discovered on the journey and how he was missing his wife, Annie (the subject of "Annie's Song," at the time.
  
  Denver's longtime producer, Milt Okun, explained: "John went to Shanghai to get away from everything and had this profound, deeply personal experience. He wrote 'Shanghai Breezes' while he was there about what he'd been through. It's a great song about love and about the importance of his relationship with Annie."
• Denver returned to China in 1992 for a tour, becoming one of the first Western artists to play multiple shows in the mainland.
• The song was released in 1982, several years after Denver peaked in popularity with huge hits like "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" and "I'm Sorry." He was still very popular, especially on the Adult Contemporary chart, where "Shanghai Breezes" was the last of his nine #1 hits.
• The flute, very prominent in this song, was played by Jim Horn, who true to his name is also a saxophone player. You can also hear his flute on "Going Up The Country" by Canned Heat, and his piccolo on "The Tears of a Clown" by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles.