Taking a boat on the Huangpu River and looking into the distance at the brilliant lights on both sides, I feel full of pride. Granite buildings line up on the old Bund at Puxi one after another, always proudly demonstrating the beauty of European classic architecture; yet, decorated by modern and colourful lightning, the massive buildings do not seem overbearing.

Lights at the Bund can talk, narrating history of Shanghai. There are new and uniquely-shaped buildings of all styles at the riverfront of Pudong, competing to project splendid lights to the starry sky. They indeed outshine the stars in the universe. Lights at the riverfront of Pudong can sing, singing in a loud or a low voice for Shanghai's new look.

Only one cityscape in China really works. When you stand on the Bund, in Shanghai, you have a sweep of well-restored colonial palaces floodlit behind you, and in front of you, across the Huangpu river, the winking fairy spires of 21st century Pudong. It's a genuinely rapturous sight, though you can't help thinking that there is nothing very Chinese about it.