Beautiful ... or ugly? in China, it's in the eye of the beholder

Some mock the 'weird' structures, while others say they are symbols of the country's bright future.

Some love it. Some hate it. Most do both or fall in between. The modern building that looks like an ancient Chinese coin in Liaoning province's capital Shenyang rises as a symbol of the scope of sentiments about the phenomenon it epitomizes - the proliferation of China's odd architecture.

"Every coin has two sides. This one is no exception," says Wang Zheng, who lives near Fangyuan Mansion. "Some think it's hideous. I think it's fanciful."