Nanchang, a clash of old and new

The reconstructed Tengwang Pavilion helps light up Nanchang in bright red and green. [Photo by Rosemary Bolger/chinadaily.com.cn]

The beautiful Tengwang Pavilion was reconstructed as recently as 1980s, after the previous replica was destroyed by fire.

It is its relatively more recent "red history" that Nanchang is most proud. It is known as "the city of heroes" after the first shots were fired against the Kuomintang in 1927 leading to the formation of the People's Liberation Army.

Since 1949, the population of Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi province, has shot from 250,000 to more than 5 million people. Cranes dot the skyline, as endless residential and commercial towers spring up to accommodate more and more people. One new development suggests "everything pleases your heart is extraordinary" while promising to deliver buyers "superior natural".

By night, the city's skyscrapers that line the riverbank become the canvas for a new kind of artwork. Darkness banishes the persistent haze that dulls the skyline during the day and frees the city to shine bright. Once the sun sets, the steely facades perform a dazzling light show, their sleek surfaces serving as screens for a cartoon adventure taking us across the globe, complete with kangaroos, camels and crabs scurrying from one tower to the next. The technological feat is a fitting nightly welcome for tourists to the rapidly developing city. As entire buildings light up in formation, it is nearly impossible to imagine Bada Shanren once sat in the same town creating beauty with ink on scrolls.