The area that has changed most dramatically in the city in recent years is the eastern bank of the Huangpu River, the district known as Pudong. Only ten years old this year, Pudong symbolizes everything that is new and exciting about Shanghai. The Oriental Pearl TV Tower, is a recent construction, which heralded the beginning of the Special Economic Region over the river. Development here is occurring at an incredible rate. The International Conference Center has been completed recently, just in time for the Fortune 500 conference which attracted literally thousands of investors to the city. Shanghai's Wall Street is also over here and hundreds of commuters make the trip under the river every day to work.

The Jinmao Tower, the tallest building in China and the third tallest in the world, now soars above even the TV Tower, skyscrapers are shooting up all over the place, and what were empty fields only one year ago, are now homes to offices and luxury hotels. Work on what is planned to be the tallest building in the world, the Shanghai World Financial Center is due to begin any day.
The area also however, epitomizes all that is dangerous about this chameleon of a city. Over seventy percent of the brand new office space constructed lies empty and the cost of living here is shooting up. The gap between the rich and poor is huge, unemployment is high and pollution in the city is choking Shanghai residents.

And yet, after spending a little time in the city, the overall feeling is clearly optimistic. Shanghai residents have a very strong minded and almost arrogant approach to their city. They know it is advanced, economically rich and an exciting place to be. This city has achieved so much already and looks like continuing to do so well into the 21st century.