Rust Belt label baffles Liaoning's capital

It has been good to escape the somewhat unseasonably hot May weather in Beijing for the cooler climes of Northeast China.

I always seem to be sent to Shenyang, Liaoning province, about 700 kilometers north of the capital, to report on some aspect of how China's supposed Rust Belt is managing to restructure its economy as its heavy industries decline.

Liaoning's capital never somehow quite fits that narrative. With its thriving financial sector along its Golden Mile financial area and an influx of German engineers and managers working at the nearby BMW plants, it looks and feels nothing other than prosperous.