Change — fundamental change — can be difficult to discern in Asia. Too often it is measured by rapidly changing skylines and cityscapes; change as reflected by new buildings, architectural marvels and ambitious public works projects. In this way, every trip to China is a visit to a new country, with cities sprouting from rural landscapes virtually overnight. These cement and steel structures reflect new trends in Asia’s inexorable urbanisation but they are only one manifestation of change.
人們很難察覺到亞洲正在發生變化,而且是那種根本性的變化。有太多的時候,人們對於變化的衡量標準是快速變幻的天際線和城市景象;變化就體現在新樓房、建築奇蹟和雄心勃勃的公共工程項目上。從這種角度來說,每一次訪問中國時,你看到的都是一個嶄新的國家——在這裏,幾乎一夜之間,農村景象不見了,城市拔地而起。這些鋼筋水泥建築物反映了亞洲無法阻擋的城市化新趨勢,但它們只是變化的一個表象。