Originally Posted by
moondog
perhaps, my choice of words failed to capture the point i was trying to make, which was: 1) because of its phenomonal growth rate, china is an exciting place that is undergoing a rapid transformation before our eyes that is useful to see first hand; and 2) based on #1, your chances of seeing the old --culturally unique/fascinating-- china decrease as time marches on.
Those are a big hunk of the reasons I went to China for the first time this past Summer (by the way, don't go in the Summer unless you like to suffer). But, it was very interesting, economically and in the way they are rushing to destroy their past (at least the buildings).