19/06/2018
No. 2 - Witness China’s development from the first row
China’s development during the last 35 years is unprecedented in World’s history. Witnessing it from inside the country is fascinating and eye-opening. Most people don’t realize how much China has developed, and still see China as a very rural country. However, by the end of 2012, for the first time, the number of Chinese living in urban areas amounted to 712 million, representing 52.6% of the population. In 1990, this percentage only amounted to about 25%. This fast development has been supported by clusters of cities, creating giant urban areas. The most famous ones are: The Pearl River Delta, regrouping the cities of Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhaoqing, Hong-Kong, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Macau, Dongguan and Jiangmen and accumulating a population of about 120 million inhabitants (more or less the population of Mexico) and the Yangtze River Delta, regrouping the cities of Shanghai, Wuxi, Changzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Nanjing, Suzhou, home of a combined population of about 85 million (roughly the population of Germany).
These facts can easily be found on the Internet, but being able to witness the speed of development from within is astonishing. Roads are being built and skyscrapers rise from the ground; every day, the city is being remodelled in front our eyes. More and more people are accessing the middle class and filling the numerous shopping malls that appear on the corner of every street. Of course, China still has a rural side that is less developed than this urban life picture I am depicting, but overall the country has been investing in most regions to develop roads, railways, and transportation systems. For someone coming from a developed country, it is partly fascination and partly scary. Fascinating to see a country develop so fast in front of one’s eyes and scary to see that on many aspects they are doing things bigger, better and faster than developed countries. I would advise anyone to come and witness it for themselves.