The 1949 liberation of the city by the Chinese Communist Party marked the beginning of a new era for Shanghai.  And in 1990 came the announcement for the development of Pudong, and with it the rest of Shanghai.  Shanghai was once again rising as the "pearl of the East".

Today, to explore Shanghai is to explore history unfolding in front of your eyes.  A walk along Nanjing Lu, one of Shanghai's main commercial strips, there's the big name's in international fashion: Gucci, Christian Dior, Versace, Chanel, Cartier, and Louis Vuitton. In between sit McDonald's, KFC, and Baskin Robbins â€?the hallmarks of globalization and the movement of global capital. Ultra modern ten-story shopping malls and department stores hem in the whole thing. And all around brand new skyscrapers of glass and steel rearrange Shanghai's skyline on a seemingly daily basis. 

Across the Huangpu River is Pudong, an area that was swampland only a decade ago, if it is built to plan, will have a skyline as impressive as that of New York or Hong Kong.  Already there's one giant 100-storey tower sitting almost finished, and plans are ready for what will be the world's newest tallest building; a building that will surpass Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Towers by fifty feet.

Around the city teenagers sit conspicuously in the shopping malls to see and be seen. Young women decked out in the latest fashions stroll the streets, while BMWs and Mercedes pass by. In People's Square young professionals talk on mobile phones working on laptops while their children frolic in the fountain. Young people sport the hippie look, the heavy metal look, the techno look.

Nothing to see in Shanghai? Ha! There's everything to see in Shanghai, but it's not in the museums or the gardens or the pagodas. It's out on the streets unfolding before your very eyes. This is a city spending an average of 8.5 billion US dollars on infrastructure and commercial development every year!