To see someplace literally change before your eyes, go to Shanghai. While standing on the roof of the building my office was surveying for restoration in January 1997, I counted 28 new 30+ story buildings under construction... and that was on a foggy day with poor visibility! If the air had been clearer, I'm sure at least 30 more could have been counted. The amount of construction is simply staggering. At night, the sky is filled with the flashes of welding. Sparks topple down onto the streets. Bamboo scaffolding is everywhere. I even watched the start of a pour for a fourth story concrete floor slab at 11:00pm at night. Amid this change, many of the alley houses constructed in the early 20th century still stand throughout the city. But what exists today may not be present tomorrow.