New Shanghai

"Is China's once legendary city re-emerging as the New York of Asia? The Whore of the Orient? The stomping ground of China's artistic elite? A hotbed of high-tech innovation and entrepreneurship? The headquarters for multinationals in Asia? A tinderbox of political unrest as state-owned companies lay off workers by the hundreds of thousands?" "In this penetrating and timely account, journalist Pamela Yatsko addresses these questions and many others to tell the story of Shanghai's rebirth. New Shanghai's lively narrative captures key aspects of the city's comeback: The wild building spree-turned-glut of the 1990s, Shanghai's drive to reestablish itself as a financial juggernaut; its cultural reawakening; the growing divide between "haves" and "have-nots"; the return of fortune-hunting foreign business; efforts to reform state enterprises; and the revival of notorious Old Shanghai vices: nightlife, drugs, and prostitution. Yatsko takes us into the world of shady Chinese stock speculators, prosperous white-collar professionals, distraught laid-off workers, determined foreign businessmen, and alluring bar girls." "New Shanghai gives texture to the tumult that has rocked urban China in the 1990s. By painting a vivid yet realistic picture of Shanghai today, it helps readers understand the Shanghai and China of tomorrow."--Jacket.