Nicholas Craig column

Nov 3 2006 By Nicholas Craig, The Journal

It's now over a week since I returned from Beijing and Shanghai. So much activity, noise and pollution are bewildering. The shelter of Corbridge came as a welcome relief.

It is difficult to relay the extraordinary effect of the 24-hour construction contracts currently creating chaos in China's biggest city.

My hotel in Beijing was, on Wednesday, next to a row of shops. By Sunday, the shops had been demolished, the road dug up and a new paved area and road, complete with infrastructure, put in its place.

Skyscrapers spring up before your eyes, as developers rush to begin or complete their schemes before the deadline of 31 December 2007, after which no building can take place until the Olympics are over.

There are tens of thousands of migrant workers labouring away on building sites across Beijing in Dickensian scenes of relentless slog and obsessive urbanisation.

It has been an extraordinary decade for China, which has seen it overtake Britain as the world's fourth largest economy, set to pass the US by 2034. But with 1.3 billion people earning an average income each of £900 a year, 150 million people still live in poverty. Daily life for many inhabitants is unremitting drudgery.

Just before I arrived in Beijing, the city's marathon had taken place. The smoggy clouds did not seem to affect the runners at all, much to the surprise of sports commentators who have feared for Olympic contestants if pollution is not tackled soon.

In sharp contrast, Shanghai has launched a £1bn investment fund to create the world's first `eco-city' in partnership with Arup engineering group. They hope the first stage, a city for 50,000 with a `zero emissions' target for pollution, will be completed in time for the Shanghai Expo in 2010.

Shanghai regards Beijing's mass commercialisation with some distaste.

Nevertheless, western junk food is taking over the malls. Burger King opened its first Chinese outlet in Shanghai, opposite a Buddhist temple last year, adding its brand to the popularity of MacDonald and KFC restaurants.

Beijing and Shanghai is a tale of two cities bound by the same ruthless ambition. Their best and worst of times is being shaped specifically for western consumption. Both are exciting, draining cities and both are poised for 21st Century power.

Nicholas Craig is a partner at Watson Burton law firm.