Saturday Photo: Two Faces of China, Shanghai View

The media are full of images from Beijing and the rest of China right now, so it's time for me to trot out two pictures I took in Shanghai when I was there working on Green City. The peaceful piper is a sculpture in Jing'an Park just off West Nanjng Road in the center of the city. Early in the morning it was full of people exercising, and during the day many others used it for resting, reading and other sorts of recreation. This appreciation of what nature is available was both touching and encouraging.

But not far away was another feature of China today: constructions sites where traiditonal low rise housing was being razed to make way for sky scrapers. Who knows that this massive rebuilding of Chinese cities is going to do to the peple?