Xiamen is the San Diego of China

San Diego, California "is the birthplace of California and is known for its mild year-round climate, natural deep-water harbor, extensive beaches, long association with the U.S. Navy, and recent emergence as a healthcare and biotechnology development center". The population was estimated to be 1,322,553 as of 2012.  It has a very high quality of life.  It is 2600 miles from San Diego to Honolulu.


San Diego

Xiamen, Fujian province, has a population of 3.67 million.  "Xiamen and its surrounding countryside is known for its scenery and tree-lined beaches. Xiamen has a monsoonal humid subtropical climate characterised by long, hot and humid summers (but moderate compared to much of the rest of the province) and short, mild and dry winters.  The Port of Xiamen is a large deepwater port situated on the northern part of Xiamen Island. It has an excellent natural harbour and well connected to the mainland by road and rail. Xiamen University is a beautiful campus with old traditional buildings and a tranquil lake outside the foreign language department.  In 2006, Xiamen was ranked as China's second 'most suitable city for living', as well as China's 'most romantic leisure city' in 2011."  It is about 190 miles from Xiamen to Taipei.


Xiamen

Harbin is the Milwaukee of China

Harbin (哈尔滨): The capital of Heilongjiang province, Harbin is the country’s northernmost big city. Famous for its local beer and annual winter ice sculpture festival, Harbin is China’s gateway to neighboring and resource-rich Russia. Russian culture has also left its mark on the city, influencing everything from the local cuisine to the architecture. Today Harbin’s economy is focused on textiles and power equipment manufacturing.  (http://www.newgeography.com/content/002330-a-guide-china%E2%80%99s-rising-urban-areas).   Harbin was founded by the Polish Adam Szydłowski in 1898, during construction of the Trans-Manchurian Railway.

Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 30th most populous city in the United States, and 39th most populous region in the United States.  Milwaukee has a strong German and Polish influence.  During the cold winter months, Wisconsin is dotted with fishermen and ice houses. Milwaukee was once the home to four of the world's largest beer breweries (Schlitz, Blatz, Pabst, and Miller), and was the number one beer producing city in the world for many years.

Wuxi is the Cleveland of China

Wuxi, Jiangu province, has a population of about 6.3 million and a GDP of about $110 billion/year, making it one of the top 100 cities in the world.  It is the "city by the lake", Lake Tai, which is the 3rd largest freshwater lake in China (behind Poyang Lake and Dongting Lake).  It is an inland port city, relying on the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal.  It is a manufacturing center, with two large industrial parks.  Lake Tai unfortunately has a problem with pollution and algae blooms.

Cleveland, Ohio has a population of about 3.5 million in its greater metropolitan area (including Akron), and has a GDP of about $135 billion/year.  It is on the southern shore of Lake Erie (the 4th largest freshwater lake in North America).  (Lake Erie has a surface area of 25,667 km2, while Lake Tai has an area of 2,250 km2). It became a manufacturing center owing to its location on the lake shore, as well as being connected to numerous canals and railroad lines.  It is located by the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, which is infamous for being so polluted that it caught on fire in the 1960s.  Through the Ohio and Erie Canal, it was connected to the Atlantic Ocean, although the canal has been abandoned today.

Hengqin is the Orlando of China

Orlando


Hengqin

Floating not far off Macau’s Cotai casino strip, and connected by the Lotus bridge, is Hengqin. This thinly populated island, three times the size of Macau, belongs to Guangdong. But mainland officials have designated it a special economic zone, complete with tax breaks and subsidies. They are keen to develop it in ways that support Macau’s aspirations for mass-market tourism.

Cheap land and labour are already luring developers to build facilities on Hengqin, such as cheap hotel rooms, that will boost Macau’s gambling business. Galaxy Entertainment, a local casino firm, is looking into buying a tract there. Chimelong Group, a Chinese firm that runs the country’s largest amusement park, is spending $2 billion on an ocean theme park, to open later this year. This is the first of ten such parks planned in an effort to turn the isle into "the Orlando of China".

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/macau-the-rise-of-the-low-roller-2013-9

See also: Hengqin
Macau is the Las Vegas of China

Shenzhen is the San Jose of China

San Jose, CA

San Jose (including the rest of Silicon Valley) is considered to be a Gamma+ Global City.  It has the headquarters of many high-tech companies including Adobe, Apple, Cisco, eBay, Facebook, Google, HP, Intel, and Yahoo.  Santa Clara County has a population of about 1.8 million and a GDP of about $170 bn/year, and is growing more than 10%/year. It is one of the wealthiest areas in the US.

NASDAQ is a stock exchange located in New York City, but most of the largest stocks (e.g. Apple) in it are headquartered in Silicon Valley.  To make this comparison work, I have to pretend that NASDAQ is located in San Jose.  It would also help to pretend that there are a few more skyscrapers there.



Shenzhen neighbors Hong Kong and has a population of 3.5 million in its urban area and 10.3 million in its metropolitan area, with a GDP of about $180 bn/year (in the metro area).  It is considered to be a Beta- Global City, one level above San Jose.  "Being southern mainland China's major financial centre, Shenzhen is home to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange as well as the headquarters of numerous high-tech companies. Shenzhen is also one of the busiest container ports in China."  "Shenzhen is in the top ranks among mainland Chinese cities in terms of comprehensive economic power. It ranked fourth in GDP among mainland Chinese cities in 2001, while it ranked the top in GDP per capita during the same period. Its import and export volumes have been first for the last nine consecutive years.".

The Kingkey 100 is the tallest building in Shenzhen with a height of 439m, similar to the Willis Tower in Chicago (442m).  The Ping An Finance Center, at a height of 660m (including spire), is expected to be completed in 2016, and will be the second-tallest building in the world after the Burj Khalifa.

Changchun is the Detroit of China

Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin province, located in the northeast of China.  It has a population of 3.4 million in its urbanized area.  "Known as China's Automobile City, Changchun is an important industrial base with a particular focus on the automotive sector."  "Despite the city’s extensive, rather grimy suburbs and rust belt feeling, the city center and the three development zones display modernity and steady development".  (Source).  "Today the capital of China’s northern Jilin Province stands as “China’s Detroit” as the country’s largest automobile producer. The Changchun Automotive Economic Trade and Development Zone is home to the country’s biggest wholesaler of used cars, automotive spare parts and tires." (Source).

Jilin has a northerly continental monsoon climate, with long, cold winters and short, warm summers. Average January temperatures range from -20 to -14°C. 



Detroit is the largest city in the state of Michigan, with 5.2 million in its greater metropolitan area. "Detroit and the surrounding region constitute a major center of commerce and global trade, most notably as home to America's 'Big Three' automobile companies, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. " The northern part of the Lower Peninsula [of Michigan] and the entire Upper Peninsula has a more severe climate, with warm, but shorter summers and longer, cold to very cold winters. 

Guangzhou is the Los Angeles of China

Guangzhou (formerly Canton) is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province with a population of 12.8 million, making it the 3rd largest city in China (behind Shanghai and Beijing).  "Guangzhou is the main manufacturing hub of the Pearl River Delta, one of mainland China's leading commercial and manufacturing regions. In 2009, the GDP reached ¥911.28 billion (US $133.5 billion), per capita was ¥89,498 (US $13,111)."  "As the largest city in one of China's wealthiest provinces, Guangzhou attracts farmers from the countryside looking for factory work."  "The elevation of the prefecture generally increases from southwest to northeast, with mountains forming the backbone of the city, and the ocean comprising the front. Tiantang Peak (天堂顶, meaning Peak of Paradise in Chinese), which stands 1,210 m (3,970 ft) above sea level, is the highest mountain in Guangzhou."  "Summers are wet with high temperatures, high humidity and a high heat index. Winters are mild and comparatively dry."



Los Angeles is the most populous city in the U.S. state of California and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City, with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621 "The city is the focal point of the larger Los Angeles–Long Beach–Santa Ana metropolitan statistical area and Greater Los Angeles Area region, which contain 12,828,837 and nearly 18 million people respectively as of 2010, making it one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world and the second largest in the United States."  "Nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is a global city, with strengths in business, international trade, entertainment, culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine and research and has been ranked sixth in the Global Cities Index and 9th Global Economic Power Index." "The Los Angeles combined statistical area (CSA) has a gross metropolitan product (GMP) of $831 billion (as of 2008), making it the third largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas."  " The highest point in the city is 5,074 ft (1,547 m) Mount Lukens, located at the northeastern end of the San Fernando Valley. "

Guangzhou and Los Angeles are sister cities.

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Foshan is a neighboring city to Guangzhou and part of the same metropolitan area.  It has a population of 3.6 million in the city proper, and is a manufacturing and industrial base.


The Riverside-San Bernadino metropolitan area, also called the "Inland Empire", has more than 4 million people in its urbanized area and is adjacent to Los Angeles. "Some of the nation's largest manufacturing companies have chosen the Inland Empire for their distribution facilities".

Chengdu is the Dallas of China

Chengdu is one of the largest cities in Southwest China, with 14 million people in the greater metropolitan area. It is one of the largest inland cities in China and it is more than 1200 km from the coast.  "Chengdu Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone has attracted a variety of multinationals, at least 30 Fortune 500 companies and 12,000 domestic companies, including Intel, IBM, Cisco, NOKIA, Motorola, SAP, Siemens, Canon, HP,Xerox, Microsoft, Tieto, NIIT and Wipro, as well as domestic powerhouses such as Lenovo. Dell plans to open its second major China operations center in 2011 in Chengdu." "Chengdu is positioning itself to be a financial center for Western China and has successfully attracted major international financial institutions, including Citigroup, HSBC,Standard Chartered Bank, ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas, JPMorgan Chase and The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ." "More than 150,000 people in Chengdu are engaged in software-related work. Among the Top 10 service outsourcing enterprises in the world, Accenture, IBM, and Wipro are based in Chengdu. In addition, 20 international enterprises including Motorola, Ubi Soft Entertainment, and Agilent, have set up internal shared service centers or R&D centers in Chengdu." "Chengdu Aircraft Company is also currently developing the J-20 Black Eagle stealth fighter. The company is one of the major manufacturers of Chinese Military aviation technology." [Source:wikipedia]




Dallas is the largest city in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex with a population of 6.5 million, making it the largest metropolitan area in the South and the 4th largest in the country (behind New York, Los Angeles and Chicago). "The Metroplex also contains the largest Information Technology industry base in the state (often referred to as Silicon Prairie or the Telecom Corridor), owing to the large number of corporate IT projects and the presence of numerous electronics, computing and telecommunication firms such as Texas Instruments, HP Enterprise Services, Dell Services, i2,AT&T, Ericsson, CA and Verizon in and around Dallas." "Several major defense manufacturers, including Lockheed Martin, Bell Helicopter Textron, and Raytheon, maintain significant operations in the Metroplex." The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex has one of the largest concentrations of corporate headquarters for publicly traded companies in the United States. The city of Dallas has 12 Fortune 500 companies, and the DFW region as a whole has 20. In 2007–08, Comerica Bank and AT&T located their headquarters in Dallas. Irving is home to four Fortune 500 companies of its own, including ExxonMobil, the most profitable company in the world and the second largest by revenue for 2008."  [Source:wikipedia]

See also:  China's Heartland Capital: Chengdu

Chongqing is the Chicago of China

Chicago is the 6th most economically powerful city on earth, by my calculation, and it has 8.7 million in its metropolitan area.  " The city is an international hub for finance, commerce, industry, telecommunications, and transportation, with O'Hare International Airport being the second-busiest airport in the world in terms of traffic movements."  It has 1,209 high-rises (buildings between 35m and 100m), and 416 skyscapers (buildings taller than 100m) , including 108 that are taller than 150m.



Chongqing (重庆市)
has about 7 million in its urbanized area, and almost 29 million people in its greater metropolitan area.  It has 49 buildings taller than 150m, with another 21 under construction. " “Chongqing is “an industrial gateway that opens the country to its vast, rural heartland”; its “warp-speed industrialization and drive toward modernization” makes it not so much like today’s Chicago as that of the 19th century—broad shoulders, The Jungle, and all that."

See also: Chicago on the Yangtze

Nanjing is the Atlanta of China

Atlanta is the cultural capital of the Southern United States and has 5.3 million in its metro area. It was burned to the ground during the civil war, but it has become a national center of commerce. " The city’s skyline, which began its marked rise in the 1960s, is punctuated with buildings of both modern and postmodern vintage. At 1,023 feet (312 m), Atlanta’s tallest skyscraper—the Bank of America Plaza—is the 52nd-tallest building in the world and the 9th tallest building in the United States."


Nanjing

Nanjing (南京) means "Southern Capital".  "During the period of the North-South Division, Nanjing remained the capital of the Southern Dynasties for more than two and a half centuries. The city of Nanjing was razed after the Sui took over it. It was reconstructed during the late Tang Dynasty. ... With an urban population of over seven million (2011), Nanjing is the second-largest commercial centre in the East China region after Shanghai." "Today, with a long cultural tradition and strong support from local educational institutions, Nanjing is commonly viewed as a “city of culture” and one of the more pleasant cities to live in China."  The tallest skyscraper in Nanjing is Zifeng tower, at 450m, was completed in 2009, and it is the 8th tallest building in the world.

See also:  Evolving Urban Form: Nanjing