Shacks & Kids

Biked a slow 18 km on Saturday. It took nearly two hours; I had a cold and stopped several times to talk to the Anhui people and a few kids. The old shacks were now mostly taken down; one of men (left in pic) I used to talk to happened to be there to drop of a propane tank. He quit his labour job (earned less than RMB 1000 per month, or $130) and now delivers these tanks to earn a bit more. He shared that most of the old neighbours have moved into better housing, but his rent is now RMB 500 per month, while the old shacks were practically nothing.

Contrasting Neighbours

The rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is the Maker of them all.
Proverbs 22:2

Wealthy expats and poor garbage recyclers. In Pudong you see them often side by side. Even tough the gap is very disturbing, I guess you could say that they are both important backbones of Shanghai's amazing development in recent years.
These two pictures were taken yesterday, both across the street (one east, one west) from where I live.



If you are interested in helping the poor in Shanghai, pls check the Shanghai Community Center for some great initiatives (look under charities)