Shanghai Expo

The Singing Ship

This old and rusting ship was moored off the Pudong side of the Huangpu River (黄浦江) by Zhangyang Harbour (张扬码头), but is no longer there. Nobody was ever…

The makings of a humble pancake

For poor construction workers, each meal is about loading up enough carbohydrates to carry them through the day of heavy lifting, shoveling or jack hammering. The foundation ingredients…

Feeding the workers

The business of construction involves more than labor and machinery. It often extends to an integrated supply chain of services solely aimed at addressing the daily needs of…

Power breakfast

CEOs have their executive breakfasts at the Hyatt or Shangri La in gleaming skyscrapers. The ordinary construction worker has his by the side of the road amidst the…

The face of Shanghai’s skyline

We don’t pay enough tribute to the backbone of Shanghai’s construction fervor, as unhappy as Shanghai residents seem to be by all the Expo-driven noise and air pollution….

Solitary labor

Dawn was just about breaking when I saw him through the haze of cement dust. In a sea of construction workers milling around for breakfast, this man was…