The Tropical South

Welcome to Shenzhen in southern China, where lush fronds, steamy weather, and rolling green mountains predominate! I sound like a travel brochure - what really predominates in this city of 6 million are people, cars, skyscrapers, McDonalds, and cheap knock-offs (see the smaller picture). But this is what surrounds us and what I love to see - vibrant greenery and mountains (there are no mountains in southern Ontario as most of you reading this know), and this varied topography makes everything more interesting. This picture was taken in Sha Tou Jiao in Yantian District, in the very southeastern part of the city. Now of course, if you look closely you'll see proof that I'm not in some tropical utopia but am in fact in a rapidly growing city that is rapidly running out of space to cram in all the people who want to live here and businesses that want to have a foothold in the Special Economic Zone, while still trying to maintain an image of a "Garden City". Yes, slightly to the left of centre there stands a crane and below it, the skeleton of a building. Almost had the pristine landscape thing going on!