As China re-invents itself in culture and character so do the major cities. There are few other places in the country where it is so evident as in the massive construction site of Shanghai.
Like many other Chinese cities across the country, if you hold your camera up to the skyline you will see no less than ten to twenty construction cranes perched on top of rising buildings. If one walks the streets of Shanghai you will come across entire neighborhoods razed to the ground, with pipes sticking out of the earth still spurting tap water, huge piles of brick, concrete and twisted metal ready to be trucked off, or just carted away by local 'recyclers'.
China, unlike the Europeans (who I consider to live in 'city museums'), has such a 'no-holds barred' approach to progress it is spectacular in its aggressiveness and passion. And while many Chinese cities are not a striking synthesis of natural and man-made beauty (yet), they are fiery examples of the Chinese desire to 'catch up' and enter the 21st century with the more advanced nations.
This picture is of a razed neighborhood in Pudong, which is quickly becoming the financial center and skyscraper showcase of mainland China (excluding Hong Kong).