I'm in the architecture/construction business and our firm has a small office in Shanghai. We also have offices in Kaoshiung, Taipei, and Bangkok.
I haven't been there . . . yet, but from my experience in dealing with architecture and new commerical buildings out there, I think Shanghai will surpass Manhattan in terms of being the ultra cosmopolitan city. They are sooooo ambitious. They want the latest in state of the art technology and they'll pay for it.
It is true that you have to be connected to get anything done in Shanghai or Beijing. No doubt about it. But once you get that okay, you are good to go.
Our firm gets some of our steel fabricated in Kaoshiung or Bangkok and shipped over here, that's how we hold our edge. Same thing goes for glass. The new SEC Headquarters on Station Place in Washington D.C. which has a state of the art double-curved glass facade and skylight has a 60 foot truss that was fabricated in Bangkok.
China is booming. I don't know much about the social inequalities that occur, nor can I say that the situation is improving for the peasants, the farmers, or the people in the country. After all, it is still a communist country. I've gotten to know a few recent immigrants to the U.S. too. Out of 3, do you know that none of them really know what went on in Tiananmen Square in July 1989? I was shocked. The Communist goverment has put such a spin on it and blatantly covered up what all the outsiders saw.
I wish I could say that life for the poorer classes were getting better. I suspect that the rich are getting richer and the poorer are getting poorer, but once again, I haven't been there yet.
What I can say is that there economy is getting stronger and the Chinese are willing to do business with Americans.
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