To most people, Shanghai doesn’t pop into mind when they think about the city of the 21st century. However, one look at Pudong will completely change their minds. No where is the growth of China more apparent than in the Pudong New Area. The area has some of the most modern buildings ever seen. Pudong is home to the world’s tallest hotel and some of the tallest buildings in the world.
At night time, Pudong is lit up brighter than the Las Vegas strip. And with good reasons. China is extremely proud with what it has done to the place. It wasn’t that long ago when Pudong was just a bunch of rice padi fields. Today, it is the heart of the financial center and headquarters to nearly every Fortune 500 company that has a presence in China.
Living in Pudong is out of reach for the average Chinese citizen. The area caters to ex-pats working in Shanghai and China’s new rich. Thanks to new rules that allow capitalism inside a communist country, many Chinese citizens are starting businesses and striking it big. China now has over 300,000 citizens with net worth of over $1 million US, excluding property. And mainland millionaires control some $530 billion in assets.
For the newly minted Chinese millionaire, making the big bucks isn’t enough. You got to flaunt it too. And Pudong is one of the best places to flaunt your wealth. While Shanghai can be a very inexpensive place to live, the word inexpensive doesn’t exist in Pudong. Bring lots of money.