Urbanization and China: Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing

This metropolis was once a total work of art, epitomizing
the religious and political system that ran China for millennia. The remnants of that time are being restored anew.

As Chinese officials are developing a megalopolis that will contain more than 130 million people, some suburban residents cope with difficult commutes and shortages of public services.

More than 21 million people live in Beijing, so even the tiniest apartments can cost a fortune. But there is an underground market. Literally, people are living underground. Below the city's bustling streets, bomb shelters and storage basements are turned into apartments. An estimated 1 million of Beijing's residents live underground

The whole world has gotten a long televised look at the new Olympic Beijing - a city with high-concept architecture, such as the stadium called the Bird's Nest. Well, there's another Beijing, an ancient city. It's a maze of homes and alleys that are rapidly being demolished to make way for high-rise development

The first red alert over air pollution in the Chinese capital almost brought this city to a standstill in December, with schools shut, construction halted and driving restricted. Now, in a swift policy shift, Beijing plans to issue a red alert based on higher thresholds, despite government pledges to better address the toxic air.

For years it has been officially required that admission to a school be based solely on how close a child lives to it. Schools have paid little attention. Backhanders and connections have counted for much more. So too have entrance tests, designed to exclude the less able (unless they were rich--those with inadequate scores could always buy places). In March, however, the Ministry of Education stamped its feet again: by the beginning of the new school-year in September, all primary-school students and 90% of those in junior secondary-schools must attend the school closest to their registered home address (some state agencies will still be allowed to reserve places for children of employees).

In June 1989, an unprecedented protest in Tiananmen Square in Beijing which had begun two months before was brought to a violent end. As the world watched, China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) forcibly removed thousands of demonstrators from Tiananmen Square.

On the surface, the Chinese stock market looks and sounds something like the markets in New York or London or Tokyo, but it differs in some big ways. For one thing, China's three stock exchanges are small. They list only about 2000 companies, and most of these are politically connected. Scott Kennedy directs the China business program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

In the narrow, brightly lit streets of Beijing, street vendors start early, preparing the day's delights: steamed buns filled with pork, prawns or vegetables (known as baozi ); spicy lamb kebabs (chuan'r ) cooked on roadside barbecues; and tanghulu , 'fresh' fruit on bamboo skewers covered in sugary syrup.

Beijing put fire-fighting information on its Internet website today as part of its campaign of public awareness designated by the Beijing municipal government.

Off-the-charts air pollution in Beijing has affected all residents of the Chinese capital in recent days, including The World's Mary Kay Magistad. She speaks with anchor Jeb Sharp about what life in Beijing is like when the air becomes unbreathable.