Pace of gentrification must be balanced

It is hard to understand why people complain of improved living standards. But until one goes through it, one tends to think in hypothetical terms.

In the 1980s, I dreamed of a Chinese metropolis adorned with air-conditioned shopping malls and grand hotels with even grander lobbies. Whenever I walked through a residential district with street peddlers and littered sidewalks, I would say to myself: Someday this will change and it'll be immaculate.

This day is arriving faster than I imagined.