In a city where “new” is adored by the people and highly advocated by the government, “old” is considered outdated, not being appreciated, and in many cases, abandoned.

The idea of re-constructing a new city is to build new things.

New buildings, new stores, new materials, new rules, new people,

New everything.

Get rid of the old, and completely build the new.

That is the city development strategy of Modern China.

And the reason why the nation could grow so fast in a short time period.

For example, after government decided to shift from ZERO-COVID policy, it felt like COVID not even existed.

Another example, digital transformation is like water and air that people live and breathe in lives.

After frequent traveling amongst different cities and countries this year, the social behavior differences from people come even more vivid to me.

Was talking with one of my best friends about the sense of belonging for a city, after having living in Taipei, DC, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, she told me she could never settle in Shanghai, because she feels like a passenger by here.

The old goes, and the new will come.

And I somehow can relate a bit more now.