A Bryson in China: The Changed Landscape

Thursday, August 18, 2005

The Changed Landscape

Evidently the Chinese have been altering the landscape. Most of this region is really flat. But then you start back to Hong Kong or over to another town and suddenly there are some pretty good size hills or mountains. So how did this get so flat?

The Chinese have a massive infrastructure of progress. They have built major roads throughout this area, and the industrial revolution is strongest in this Pearl River Delta area. Factories are plentiful and more are being constructed everywhere.

One shoe factory in the area has 50,000 employees! Yes, I said 50,000!! And that isn’t the biggest. There is another shoe factory near Shenzhen with 70,000!! One village is being relocated beside a nearby shoe factory to make room for more housing at that plant. There are huge cities inside the factory grounds!!

But to meet all this growth the landscape has often been altered. I can’t be so sure since I haven’t been here long, but the picture included today should give you an idea of the differences being made to the landscape!