The last time I was in mainland China (1986) the country was mimimally equipped to handle tourists. Everyone wore the requesite grey Mao garb and rode bicycles.
Food in even the "westernized" hotels was unrecognizable and often still moving. It was charming and fun.
We hired a car and driver in Shanghai, walked the Great Wall outside Beijing, visited a school, 
bought pottery from a local artists and came back with stories to tell.
I was little prepared for the changes that had happend in those twenty years. The little girls you see in this picture are now in their twenties and part of the "new" People's Republic of China, which actively encourages foreign investment in their SEZs (Special Economic Zones). Since this blog isn't about the history of Chinese economics I'll refer you to www.wikipedia.org where you can type in the key word Economic Zones China and get a full history of how it all happened. Bottom line result is that the Shanghai of my first visit and the Shanghai of this visit are like Mars and Venus.
Shanghai Then .................................Shanghai Now
Our trip had been organized by NAIOP (National Association of Industrial and Office Properties) and the University of Cincinnati school of Real Estate to explore industrial development and port logistics services in the "new" China. None of us were fully prepared.
Remembering my last trip, I went armed with canned tuna and crackers, but the transformation of Shanghai from quaint to futuristic threw me off balance. I bought into the image and in typical American tourist fashion "assumed" that what you see is what you get. I know I know, I'm suppossed to be smarter than that... I'm the experienced traveller. To be fair, I didn't drink tap water, and only brushed my teeth with bottled water. I wasn't so naive. Maybe I was grateful that the food on the dishes served in the government-run tourist restaurants wasn't still moving on the plates. I ate. Big mistake and thank the Lord for Cipro.
Since every group that books China is assigned a government agency to handle them, we inherited Bing and Company (not the real name of the agency). Bing was our main tour director and reminded me of Disney's Jimminy Cricket from Pinnochio, ever willing to lead us into misadventures. Like the five star hotels we had been promised.
Assuming that an American rated five star hotel would be a Chinese five star hotel and knowing that Shanghai has some of the most beautifully designed properties in all of China, we eagerly awaited our first night. Located in the far outskirts of Shanghai, the Guangdong International Hotel was an amusing study of monkey see monkey do. Was there anything wrong with the hotel? No. The lobby had it's glass windows copper stair railings and marble floors polished to perfection. The rooms, although small were outfitted with ammenities (shampoo, soap, hairdryer, minibar and television). Although it had all the right touches, it felt like a stage set. It was a feeling I would have over and over again on our trip. By moving at wharp speed to "Westernize" its economic zones, the Chinese government has buried the charm of its heritage.