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China New Trip Sectionof Gregory Melle'sYear 2000 World Travel Guide
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| I was struck with the contrast between the old and new aspects of modern China. |
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| My impressions of Old China are at my China Old 2000 page, with my New China impressions here. |
| I was astonished at the new China as seen in Shanghai. I
had read of the 13 million population and of the many old sections being torn
down to build the new. But I was amazed at the extent of modernization. Most
rebuilding has happened in the last dozen years. This includes two subway lines
and vast new airport. The new Pudong airport had only been open for a few weeks and most international flights were still using the old airport. Pudong had the largest air terminal that I have seen, along with one of the smallest crowds. After my afternoon arrival, I headed to the riverside Bund park. The air was thick and remained so during my visit. This view is towards the new buildings in Pudong. They include a seventy story hotel and the third highest TV tower in the world. 
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| Huge hotels and office buildings -- with exciting
architecture -- are spread through the central city area. The first view is of
the magnificent new Shanghai Grand Theatre in the central People's Park. The
spire behind it is the new unfinished Marriott Hotel. The other shot shows of a student group that I met outside the nearby Shanghai Museum. 
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| After three Shanghai nights I took the fast morning
train to Nanjing. My Internet hotel selection turned out to be quite elegant.
The bathroom there was the size of the entire hotel where I stayed in Tokyo!
While there are many new buildings in Nanjing I start this section with a 40 year old bridge across the Yangtze River. It carries both road traffic and rail. Underneath there is a constant flow of river traffic. The second photo shows a couple of ladies who sold Polaroid photos to tourists. 
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| The Nanjing Museum was closed and seemed deserted. This
fellow was doing a good job of guarding the entrance. The second photo shows a pretty kite-flyer on the old city walls. 
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| I took the night train to Beijing. While there are some
interesting new things my only images are on my China Old page. I have done
some thinking of the importance of new and old. Why is a superb reproduction
less valuable than an inferior original? And what about artists like Rodin who
simply provided the spark and supervision for work that was largely created by
others? My trip gave me a lot of time for reflection. Concepts like the meaning of capitalism and socialism, the importance of a bite to eat, compassion for others and importance of freedom all need to reconsidered after visiting China and Japan. Here one sees both the best and worse of central planning. |