Travel: February 2005 Archives

Here at Yankee Fog, our goal is to provide you with up-to-date coverage of the entire world. That's why, at great personal expense, we have sent correspondant Eric Peng to China for a first hand account of life there. (Note: for purposes of this article, "sending a correspondant to China" means "republishing an e-mail sent by my old college roommate who happens to be visiting Shanghai.") Here is what he has to say:

I've been here two weeks now and it's my first extended visit to China in ten years. The pace of change here is almost incomprehensible. Almost the entire side of the river where I'm staying was farmland the last time I was here, and now it's like the Manhattan skyline. The street I'm on doesn't even appear on maps dated 1999. Everywhere you look, there are new high-rises or skyscrapers going up (and old neighborhoods being bulldozed). If you think there's a property bubble in the US, try Shanghai ... typical occupancy seems to be around 40% so all the empties (and to some degree the rentals) are pure speculation.