04.29.08
The Contradictions of Modern China
On the surface, China remains a Marxist-Leninist state. Yet the economic system has lost most of its ideological content. Here are a few scenes:
At the Temple of the Jade Buddha, monks chant while the courtyard is filled with ordinary people — old and young — burning incense sticks that waft their prayers above.
The Maserati dealer shows off a beautiful yellow sports coupe and competes with the Ferrari dealer next door. 
Meanwhile, outside the street vendors, those peasants from the countryside without work visas for the City, make a few Yuan shining shoes or selling trinkets. Meanwhile down the road, the Shanghai Aesthetic Surgery Center does a booming business.
The City boasts incredible vistas with daring buildings. Yet if you look up towards the sky, the view is obscured with hundreds of wires. Wireless communications have supplanted the old telephone lines but what to do with the legacy of the communist rule?
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