The richness of the street life in the ancient Kai county was intoxicating. The contrast with the bland surroundings of the new urban district, built on higher ground two kilometres down south, could not be greater. One of the things that struck me most while travelling through China for the past six years is how so many of its new cities feel and look the same. Is there a blueprint that all of the country's urban planners adhere to? Or is this the inevitable result of cities growing too fast too soon? [Kai county Dec 06 2007.]
