China has 5,000 years of history but visitors to most Chinese cities would never know it. When faced with an old building, the default reaction of mainland urban planners has long been to knock it down. The result: hundreds of identical, faceless grey cities, where history has been razed to put up skyscrapers.
But now some Chinese cities seem ready to move beyond their 30-year love affair with modernity. Even Shanghai, symbol of all that is most futuristic about China, is starting to reminisce about its past.
Vast areas of the old city were knocked down in the $45bn spruce-up that preceded the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. But now the city fathers are determined to use what is left more wisely, preserving not only those buildings notable for their role in Communist party or colonial history, but also the very fabric of city life, from old docks to disused factories to crumbling neighbourhoods.