Shanghai

Shanghai by Christine Mauerkirchner and Rainer Grunert is a free faux-Chinese display font with a sharp, brush-cut rhythm and a theatrical 1995 attitude. The letters mix broad curved bowls with tapering spikes and hooked strokes, so the alphabet feels carved, slashed, and slightly ornamental rather than traditionally calligraphic.

It fits posters, restaurant branding, record sleeves, festival flyers, and title cards where you want a stylized East Asian cue without turning the layout into a period pastiche. As a free font, Shanghai works best in short headlines, logos, and monogram-like initials, because those sweeping cuts and pointed joins carry the mood fast.