Wuhan is the Boston of China

Boston is 240 miles from New York, the commercial capital of the US.  It is one of the few US cities to have a subway, along with New York, Washington, and San Francisco.  The American Revolution started here, with the Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere's famous midnight ride, and the "shot heard around the world" at the Battle of Lexington.  Today, Boston is one of the top cities in the US, with 4.5 million people in its metro area.  It is a center of culture, with entities such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Opera House and Boston Ballet.  It is one of the top university centers in the nation, with more than 100 colleges and universities, including Boston University, Boston College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard, Northeastern, Suffolk, and Tufts.  The Charles River runs through it. 

Wuhan is 520 miles from Shanghai.  It is the 5th Chinese city to have a metro, (after Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Guangzhou).  The Chinese Revolution of 1911, which overthrew the Qing Dynasty, originated in Wuhan, and the city has several museums about the revolution.  Wuhan has 6.4 million people in its urban area, and is one of the top 13 cities in China.  It is one of the top 3 scientific and education centers in China, along with Beijing and Shanghai.  It has 35 universities and colleges including Wuhan University, Hubei University, Hubei Institute of Fine Arts, and Wuhan Institute of Technology. The Yangtze and Han rivers run through it.

Chinese colonies in Africa

China is building colonies in Africa, where it can send people to relieve overpopulation, and where it can get farmland and natural resources.  They give loans to African countries but they always have strings attached, for example, they must use Chinese construction companies.

"Unlike with the Spratly Islands, Okinawa or Scarborough shoal, China doesn't need to occupy Africa militarily. As with other imperialist countries of the past, China knows that collaborators are the most efficient method of imperialism. China only needs to bribe Africa's corrupt leaders to get all the resources and land it needs.
China is proudly flaunting its $20bn of new loans to African countries. We've heard all this before and know that most of the money will end up in chinese and african dictators' pockets. Impoverished african nations will be fleeced over the next 30 years to service the debts incurred for expensive and shoddily built factories that were not needed in the first place. Roads will be built at exorbitant prices such as Sierre Leone's most expensive road in the world. This is the true face of China's poisoned embrace of Africa."
--http://witnesshr.blogspot.com/2012/07/chinas-new-african-colonies-sanctioned.html

There are currently 6 Chinese colonies in Africa.  They call them "Special Economic Zones".  They are: Mauritius-JinFei; Nigeria-Ogun; Nigeria-Lekki; Zambia-Chambishi/Lusaka; Egypt-Suez; Ethiopia-Eastern.

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Mauritius is becoming the Singapore of Africa.

"Unlike China’s five other SEZs in Africa which offer the potential for extraction, production and manufacturing, it is intended that the Jinfei zone will eventually house the headquarters for Chinese investments in Africa. As more information surfaces, it appears that the main role of the zone will be to provide offices, hotels, apartments, recreational services, schools and medical facilities."
--http://thinkafricapress.com/mauritius/sez-jinfei-china-problems-hasty-investment 

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See: http://www.chinaafricarealstory.com/2012/09/chinese-finance-abuja-light-rail-in.html

China is loaning Nigeria $500 million for the light rail project in Abuja.  Of course, the contractor is China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), so Chinese companies benefit even if the loan isn't repaid.

Supertalls in Tianjin

Tianjin will soon have 3 of the tallest buildings in the world. 

1.  The Goldin Finance 117, which will be 597 meters (1959 ft) with 117 stories and is expected to be completed in 2014.
2. The Rose Rock International Finance Center, which will be 588 m (1,929 ft).  It is being built by the Rockefellers and broke ground in December 2011.
3. The CTF Tower will be  530 m (1740 ft).  It will have "retail at the base, topped with offices, 300 residential units, and a 350-room, 5-star hotel."

In comparison, 1 WTC in NY will be 541m when complete.

Tianjin will surely soon become one of the top 25 cities in the world, along with nearby Beijing.  I currently have it ranked #43 and #5 in China.

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Besides these there is the R&F Tower, which will be 468m (1535 ft) with 91 stories when completed in 2015.  It's not a supertall, but still taller than the Empire State Building.

Tianjin Eco-City

From: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120503-sustainable-cities-on-the-rise/1

China, like several other countries, is exploring the creation of sustainable urban areas, or “ecocities” as they are known. Around the world, ecocities are beginning to emerge from the drawing board, from Masdar City in Abu Dhabi to PlanIT Valley in Portugal. Aimed at being the world’s largest of its type, Tianjin Eco-city is a collaborative project between the Chinese and Singaporean government that will house 350,000 people in a low-carbon, green environment around half the size of Manhattan by 2020. All going well, the team hope its model for building a sustainable city will provide the blueprint for future urbanization efforts in China, and other countries.

Top Cities in China by GDP

There are really only 8 cities in China that are of note, if we are looking at it from a metropolitan perspective:

1. Shanghai Area (Shanghai, Jiangsu province (Suzhou, Wuxi, Nanjing), Zhejiang province(Hangzhou)).  GDP: 1502 billion;  pop: 156 million.
2. Hong Kong Area (Hong Kong, Guangdong province (Guangzhou, Shenzhen), Macau). GDP:  1085 billion; pop. 112 million.
3. Beijing Area (Beijing, Tianjin,  Hebei province).  GDP: 800 billion; pop. 104 million.
4. Shangdong province. (This is between Shanghai and Beijing). Cities: Jinan, Qingdao, Weihai, Yantai.   GDP:  711 billion; pop. 96 million.
5. Liaoning province. Dalian-Shenyang.  GDP: 341 billion; pop. 43.7 million.
6. Chongqing. GDP: 117 billion; pop. 28.8 million.
7. Chengdu. GDP  GDP: 82 billion; pop. 14 million.
8. Wuhan. GDP: 82 billion; pop.  9.8 million.

Shanghai Tower

One of the coolest things about it is the wind turbines near the top.

The empty city of Ordos

More empty skyscrapers

China's Giga-Cities

A mega city is one with a population of 10 million or more. What do you call a combination of mega-cities? A giga-city. And China has 4.

Yangtze River Delta City. Population: 92 million. Area: 99600 sq. km (38400 sq mi.). Components: Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Yangzhou, Taizhou, Nantong, Huzhou, Jiaxing, Shaoxing, Zhoushan

Pearl River Delta City. Population: 64 million. Area: about 20,000 sq. mi. Components: Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Huizhou, Dongguan, Foshan, Jiangmen,Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Macau. "The Shenzhen-Hong Kong Metropolis will become by 2020 the third largest in the world in GDP terms, behind only New York and Tokyo."

Bohai City. Population: 66 million. Area: about 15,000 sq. mi. Components: Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Tangshan, Shenyang, Jinan, Qingdao, Weihai

Chongquin City: Population: 32 million. Area: 82400 sq. km. (31800 sq. mi). Components: 19 districts, and 21 counties

Guangzhou