Is Shanghai Fully Built Out? from Ryan Carlson
It's been over 6 years since I was last in Shanghai but I remember being overwhelmed by the amount of construction cranes then. Now there aren't more than a few from what I could see today in Pudong. To be completely fair, a couple financial buildings were going up that weren't in the photos but it looked like construction was slowed on them.
I also noted that the number of local Chinese tourists greatly outnumbered foreign ones and the local tourists appeared to come from rural provinces. As these aren't people with a likely income stream while they are away, I view this as bullish for the lower income consumers.
Charles Pennington inquires:
The thing that stands out to me in your photos (and especially in this one) is that the air looks like it's filled with smog. Was that noticeable to you, and did it provoke any lung problems?
Ryan Carlson replies:
No, I didn’t have any problems breathing and imagine it’s as clear as it gets. A few days shouldn’t be a problem but I wouldn’t want to live here.
The weather today in Shanghai was around 80 F and the prior day was rainy since an early evening arrival on. My paranoia pertains to the food I’m eating rather than the air. Last time through, I bit into a coil of wire hidden inside a Shanghai dumpling and won’t eat on the streets in China anymore.