Is the real China on main street or one block back?

The main streets of Shanghai and Beijing are slick and modern. Shrines to commerce and retail, they are dotted with the west's symbols of conspicuous consumption. Starbucks, KFC, Zara, Dior, Rolex and H&M jostle for attention alongside the Banks of China, Beijing and Shanghai. Beemers and Mercs slide past with impenetrably tinted glass. It all feels very familiar in a same,same, but different, sort of way.

Step one block back from Main Street and you enter a different world. The roads narrow, traffic thins and bikes and cycles prevail. The pedestrian throng thins to a trickle. Washing drapes unblushing from windows, in company with coiled lengths of red pork sausage and drying, gutted fish. People squat in doorways over pots and produce. Kids meander under the watchful eye of grandparents. Old folk, rugged up, turn to the wintery sun. Whiffs of steaming stock, pongy drains and spice catch the nose. Cats lounge on window sills and rough, short-legged brown dogs circle, hackle and scratch. 

So which is the real China? Both are, of course. And for now, they seem to sit cheek by jowl without a fuss. In the long run? Main Street wins, always.