LETTER FROM SHANGHAI

Most visitors to Shanghai are impressed by its skyline, which has undergone tremendous changes in recent years. The latest count indicates that some 1800 buildings in the city are more than 22 floors high. Rumour had it that in the 1990s, 25% of all construction cranes in Asia were in Shanghai. The most favourite place in Shanghai frequented by tourists and locals alike is the Bund, the famous waterfront with the muddy Huangpu River on one side and grand old buildings on the other. Standing on the Bund, looking across the river at the remarkable buildings in the new development area, Pudong, can be mesmerising (see photo). The new sleek buildings in Pudong always evoke strong reactions, particularly the Oriental Pearl Tower (on the left) and the Jinmao Building (on the …