Pudong From The Old City

This is a view of the newest and wealthiest area of the city, Pudong, from the Old City on the other side of the Huangpu River.  The colorful tower on the left is the Oriental Pearl Tower; the tall buildings on the right are the Jin Mao Tower (the former tallest building in Asia), and the still-under-construction Shanghai World Financial Center (which will be the second tallest building in the world next to the Burj Dubai once both are completed).

The Old City contains some of the poorest housing in central Shanghai; this picture illustrates the view that many of these extremely poor people would have of the rapid development occuring less than a mile away.  Hope (the pony tail with her back to the camera) and the other students were struck by the extreme polarization of wealth visible in parts of Shanghai.  According to the Chinese Communist Party, "the rising tide lifts all boats."  This may be true, but our group is starting to discover that the tide is clearly lifting some boats higher than others.