Chinese Urbanization ชุมชนเมืองของจีน

The Chinese economic boom has not only resulted in a changed political landscape, but the actual landscape of China has changed too. Young people are moving away from the countryside as soon as they can find a job, near or far, in a city, leaving their elderly parents to work the soil of the farms. The cities to which they move grow bigger by the second, resulting in extreme pollution.

A Chinese national flag is seen in front of a residential site in downtown Shanghai. Aly Song/REUTERS

A 92-year-old woman sits outside the front of her home as she sorts corn cobs for selling to a local factory in an effort to make extra income in the village of Jianhua. David Gray/REUTERS

An elderly farmer holds his grandsons as he sits in a field during a break from planting his crop on the outskirts of the city of Weifang, Shandong province, April 20, 2011.The fertile fields of Shandong Province in eastern China are an unlikely microcosm of the national economy. There is not a power plant or factory in sight, yet the area encapsulates as well as any industrial city some of the forces that are reshaping the country. People grumble about rising prices, adding weight to the authorities' concern that inflation could spark unrest. The virtual absence of any farmers under 40 speaks to China's urbanization, with youngsters decamping as soon as they can to work in towns near and far, leaving their aging parents to till the soil. With the rural labor pool shrinking, wages are rising. China's vast rural economy, home to over 700 million people, seems to be doing well. But urban China is doing much better, and the resulting inequality is a nagging concern for the ruling Communist Party. David Gray/REUTERS

A man watches the skyline of Shanghai from the Shanghai Financial Center building. Carlos Barria/REUTERS

A labourer works at demolishing a residential site in Shanghai. Aly Song/REUTERS

Huang Sufang reacts as she sees a part of her house being taken down by demolition workers at Yangji village in central Guangzhou city. Stringer China/REUTERS

Shepherds lead their flock of sheep along on the Guozigou segment of the Lianyungang-Horgos expressway as vehicles drive past the other side of the expressway. China Daily China Daily Information Corp - CDIC/REUTERS

Residents sit in an area where old residential buildings are being demolished in Shanghai. Aly Song/REUTERS

A car stops beside a house in the middle of a newly built road in Wenling. China Daily China Daily Information Corp - CDIC/REUTERS

A man walks along an empty construction site in downtown Chongqing. Carlos Barria/REUTERS

Wang Baiqiang and his family walk along a dirt road on the way to the station in his hometown of Dong'an, Henan Province. Carlos Barria/REUTERS

People walk in an area where residential buildings are demolished to make room for skyscrapers in Shanghai. Aly Song/REUTERS

A worker looks back at a construction site next to a newly-built residential compound in Wuhan. Darley Shen/REUTERS

Resident walks in area where old residential buildings are being demolished to make room for new skyscrapers in central Shanghai. Aly Song/REUTERS

Job-seekers visit booths of companies at a job fair in Beijing. Jason Lee/REUTERS

A farmer carries an umbrella as she throws fertilizer onto her field of winter wheat crop as rain falls on the outskirts of the town of Xichuan, Henan province. David Gray/REUTERS

Laundry hangs outside a student dormitory at a college in Wuhan. Stringer Shanghai/REUTERS

Vehicles drive on Three Ring Road and Jianwai Street in central Beijing. Jason Lee/REUTERS

A garbage collector walks at a demolition site which is making room for a new residential area, in Wuhan. Stringer China/REUTERS