Megacities: A guide to China's most impressive urban centers

By Maggie Hiufu Wong

With a population of 1.3 billion people and rising, China unsurprisingly boasts the world's highest number of megacities.
So what qualifies as a megacity? 

Most commonly, it's defined as an urban agglomeration of 10 million or more inhabitants.
That's the equivalent of the population of Sweden.
According to the United Nations' data booklet, China has six of the world's 33 megacities. 

The China Statistic Yearbook, however, indicates that there are at least 10 cities with more than 10 million permanent residents.
It's worth noting that population data is tricky to produce in China. 

One reason is the sustained wave of migrant workers moving from rural to urban areas. 

Millions make the switch every year, often without securing the proper household registration, or "hukou."
(Populations listed in this article are the most recent figures released by each provincial government.)
These cities are often some of the country's biggest tourist destinations, too.
"Being a megacity means more business and population, which will certainly increase the exposure of the city in international media," Mimi Li, an associate professor in China Tourism at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, tells CNN Travel.
"Cities with long history such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou benefit from positive brand image and a wealth of cultural attractions. A newly developed vibrant city may bring in business travelers, with Shenzhen as a good example.
"Now that the tourism industry has been seen as a strategic pillar in the national economy of China, we foresee a closer relationship between city development and tourism development," says Li.
Li highlights Hangzhou and Chengdu as up-and-coming tourism hotspots in China.
"Hangzhou would mainly benefit from, in addition to the cultural resources, its vibrant business environment and innovative atmosphere," says Li.
"Chengdu has been long perceived as a leisure city by Chinese domestic tourists. In addition, Chengdu benefits from its vast tourism resources."
Indeed, there's so much more to these cities than just high populations.
Covering everything from exciting tourism developments and financial prowess to geographical grandness, CNN Travel looks beyond the figures to highlight 14 humongous cities -- including China's big six listed by the UN -- that boggle the mind and spark wanderlust among fans of urban spaces.

1. Chongqing

Dubbed an engineering marvel, the highly anticipated Raffles City Chongqing project is nearly complete.

Population: 30.75 million
Area: 82,300 square kilometers
With a staggering population of over 30 million people, Chongqing -- spanning 82,300 square kilometers in China's mid-western region -- is the country's biggest city by far.
To put that into perspective, Canada has a population of 36 million and Austria comprises an area of 83,879 square kilometers.
A municipality with nine urban districts, Chongqing is referred to by some as the world's most populous city -- depending on whether you count Tokyo as Greater Tokyo Area (around 38 million people) or Tokyo Metropolis only (13 million people).
Bear in mind, others scoff at claims that this city is as big as the government claims given the outer limits of Chongqing are filled with farming and mining communities that feel more like villages than urban centers.
Nonetheless, the city is starting to appeal to travelers, too. 

Chongqing was named the world's fastest-growing tourism city according to the World Travel and Tourism Council in 2017.
Chongqing is known for its tongue-numbing chili pepper hotpot -- there are about 30,000 hotpot restaurants in the city -- and a recently renovated Yangtze River Cableway across the river.
A number of large-scale tourism projects are planned for the next few years in Chongqing including a Six Flags theme park.

2. Shanghai
Shanghai might not be China's biggest city, but it's certainly its richest.

Population: 24.18 million
Area: 6,340 square kilometers
While Shanghai's size and population -- 6,340 square kilometers and more than 24 million people (making it the second most populous city in China) -- are already impressive, nothing trumps its financial prowess.
With a GDP of more than RMB 3 trillion (or US$448 billion), Shanghai is the richest city in China.
Its residents are also the country's biggest spenders, with the city amassing RMB 1.1 trillion (US$164.1 billion) total retail sales on consumer goods in 2017.
The Port of Shanghai has been the busiest container port in the world since 2010 -- handling more than 40 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) a year.
In comparison, Singapore, ranked second, handled about seven million fewer TEUs in 2017.
Shanghai is as famous for its futuristic skyscrapers -- the movie "Her" was partly shot in Shanghai -- as its glamorous historical architecture in The Bund and Yuyuan Garden.

3. Beijing
Population: 21.71 million
Area: 16,808 square kilometers
Being the political, historical and cultural heart of China, Beijing is unsurprisingly one of the country's biggest cities.
Serving as the ancient capital in various dynasties, Beijing has been an influential epicenter of China for the past 3,000 years.
It's home to seven UNESCO World Heritage sites -- the most in China, including the Forbidden City, which welcomed 17 million visitors in 2018.
The number easily rivals the number of international tourists for entire countries.
About 21 million people call Beijing home, making it the third most populous city in China.

4. Chengdu
Population: 16.33 million
Area: 12,132 square kilometers
The hometown of pandas and spicy hotpots (its biggest hotpot rival Chongqing will probably object), Chengdu is one of the biggest rising stars in China.
Chengdu has a sizable human population of more than 16 million, but its most popular residents have to be its furry black-and-white residents.
Being home to the world's biggest panda nursery, Chengdu successfully bred 42 of the 45 surviving panda babies in 2018.
Chengdu received 210 million visitors and raked in RMB 303.8 billion ($45 billion) in tourism revenue in 2017, contributing to 34% of Sichuan province's entire income.

5. Harbin
Population: 16.33 million
Area: 12,132 square kilometers
Harbin is a unique Chinese megacity thanks to its supersized winter infrastructure and Russia-influenced architecture (it's just a short distance to the border).
In addition to hosting the world's biggest Ice and Snow Festival, Harbin boasts the world's largest indoor ski park, which is inside the Wanda Harbin Mall (including six ski slopes up to 500 meters long).
Dubbed the Ice City, Harbin endures severe long winters, with temperatures as low as -38°C and a snow season that can last up to half a year.
To warm up the residents, the city also has the world's largest water park -- the 300,000-square-meter (twice the size of the Forbidden City) Poseidon Beach Water World -- with a tropical indoor beach temperature of 30C.

6. Guangzhou
Guangzhou has been a major trading port since the 6th century.

Population: 14.49 million
Area: 7,434 square kilometers
Unlike its Canton-rival Shenzhen, Gangzhou's success story dates back hundreds of years.
A major trading port along the historical maritime Silk Roads as early as the sixth century, Guangzhou is one of the richest cities in China for centuries.
In 2017, it contributed to RMB 2 trillion GDP (or US$297 billion) to the country -- just behind Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen.
For tourists, major highlights include the Guangdong Science Center -- the world's largest.
Spanning 450,000 square meters with eight themed exhibition areas, Guangdong Science Center is the Disneyland for STEM-addicted parents and kids.

7. Tianjin
Population: 15.57 million
Area: 11,760 square kilometers
One of the only four municipality-level cities in China, the humble historic seaside city of Tianjin has long been overshadowed by its neighboring capital city Beijing, its glamorous southern counterpart Shanghai and even rapidly rising star Chongqing.
But that doesn't make it less attractive to Chinese citizens.
Tianjin has attracted a population of over 15 million people and a GDP of about RMB1.8 trillion per year.
In recent years, Tianjin has been working to build its tourism and high-tech industries by building a Binhai New Area, where a stunning futuristic seaside library is located.
A high-speed railway route has been built to connect Tianjin to Beijing, shortening the commute to only 30 minutes.

8. Shenzhen

A China Mobile survey carried out in 2017 estimated that around 25 million people live in Shenzhen.

Population: 11.9 million
Area: 2,050 square kilometers
Transforming from a rural village to one of the world's biggest metropolises in just three decades, Shenzhen is an urban Cinderella tale -- and its fairy godfather is China's former leader, Deng Xiaoping.
Being appointed the country's first "special economic zone" by Deng in 1980, Shenzhen hasn't stopped thriving ever since.
Among the 143 buildings completed around the globe in 2018, about 10% of them were built in Shenzhen.
It also has the world's fourth tallest building, the Ping An Finance Centre.
While the official figure claims Shenzhen has around 12 million residents, a China Mobile 2017 survey found that around 25 million people treat Shenzhen as home.
Visiting is easy -- it's just over the border from Hong Kong connected by multiple trains and buses -- including a new bullet train. (Though bear in mind you'll likely need a visa.)

9. Wuhan

Thanks to its central location, Wuhan is one of the biggest transportation hubs in China.

Population: 10.89 million
Area: 8,494 square kilometers
Another megacity in China (with a population of just over 10 million people), Wuhan is the biggest city in the country's central region.
Thanks to its location, Wuhan is one of the biggest transportation hubs in China and its busiest connecting railway hub.
It's home to two humongous lakes -- the 47.6-square-kilometer Tangxun Lake (largest lake enclosed by a city in Asia) and the 33-square-kilometer East Lake.
Wuhan is one of the fastest growing/youngest second-tier cities in China.
It's been luring young graduates to stay in the city with a generous housing policy, offering young talent a 20% discount on rent or purchase of a flat.

10. Shijiazhuang
Population: 10.87 million
Area: 15,849 square kilometers
A relatively unfamiliar name on China's megacity list, Shijiazhuang is the provincial capital city of Hebei.
With about 10 million people living in Shijiazhuang now, it's difficult to imagine that in the early 20th century, Shijiazhuang was an unassuming village of a few hundred people.
It grew rapidly in the last 70 years when railroads were constructed in the area, making it an important transportation hub in the province.
It was designated the provincial capital in 1968.
The city is famous for its rich natural resources and neighboring scenery -- Shijiazhuang sits between the towering Taihang Mountains and the North China Plain.

11. Suzhou
Population: 10.68 million
Area: 8,488 square kilometers
In addition to having a population of between 9-10 million people and one of the highest GDP values in China, Suzhou has plenty of unbeatable attractions, too.
Located 100 kilometers west of Shanghai, Suzhou features some of the most exquisite ancient Chinese gardens in the country.
It's also one of the most historical cities in China, with a history that can be traced back to 2,500 years ago.
Suzhou also has the tallest planned skyscraper in China. 

Towering over the city at 729 meters, once complete it will be second in height, only surpassed by the 828-meter Khalifa Tower in Dubai.
Named Suzhou Zhongnan Center, the tower will be a multi-use project housing tourist attractions, a hotel, luxury residences and offices.
It's expected to be completed in 2021.

12. Hangzhou
Population: 9.8 million
Area: 16,847 square kilometers
According to Hurun Research Institute in 2019, a new unicorn company (a start-up with a company value of over $1 billion) is born about every four days in China, making the country the second largest breeding ground for unicorns in the world (The largest is still the United States).
With 18 unicorn companies, Hangzhou is the third biggest unicorn city by volume -- just after Beijing and Shanghai.
Hangzhou is also home to Alibaba, the e-commerce and tech giant, some of the most beautiful cityscapes, one of the best unknown Chinese cuisines.
West Lake, in the heart of the city, is one of the most romantic lakes in China and also the stage of an impressive Zhang Yimou-directed outdoor show Impression West Lake.
It's also known for producing some of the best silk and tea leaves in China.

13. Dongguan
One fifth of the world's mobile phones are made in Dongguan.

Population: 8.26 million
Area: 2,465 square kilometers
Dubbed the factory of the world, Dongguan has been flourishing thanks to its manufacturing industry.
To cite a few figures, over 70% of the world's computer motherboards, 75% of the world's toys, 20% of the world's smartphones and 10% of the world's shoes are made here.
The world's biggest shopping mall, New South China Mall -- once called a "ghost mall" for its high vacancy rate -- is also in Dongguan. 

The five-million-square feet mall (twice the size of Mall of America, the biggest shopping center in the United States) is now buzzing with activities.
The shopping mall has a giant Egyptian sphinx, a replica of the Arc de Triomphe and an indoor roller coaster.

14. Hulunbuir

Hulunbuir's Matryoshka Hotel claims to have the world's biggest matryoshka doll.

Population: 2.5 million
Area: 263,953 square kilometers
Hulunbuir may not have the population to even come close to being named a megacity, but the prefecture-level city in Inner Mongolia is China's largest city by size.
The total jurisdiction area under Hulunbuir measures 263,954 square kilometers -- just slightly smaller than the US state of Texas.
It constitutes about 20% of Inner Mongolia.
The city is basically one gigantic green carpet -- with about 80,000 square kilometers of grasslands and 120,000 square kilometers of woodland.

Filthy Men of Asia

Five-star hotels in China are caught cleaning toilets, cups with used towels

• The footage was captured by a Weibo user
• The cleaning standards in Chinese hotels are lower than other parts of Asia
• The clip has been shared more than 80,000 times online and viewed nearly 100 million times

ABC News

Hidden camera footage has emerged showing cleaners at more than a dozen five-star hotels in China using dirty towels to clean toilets, cups and showers, sparking outrage on Chinese social media.
In a 12-minute video posted to the popular Chinese social media site Weibo, cleaning staff were also shown washing cups and mugs with the same sponge used to wipe down the shower and sink.
Eleven of the 14 hotels involved have apologised since the video went viral, and China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism has ordered investigations into the apparent breaches of hygiene standards.
Major international hotel chains have been caught up in the scandal, including the Waldorf Astoria in Shanghai and the Park Hyatt in Beijing, which have both since apologised.
The blogger who posted the video, under the pseudonym Huazong, said he had spent more than 2,000 nights in 147 five-star hotels across several major Chinese cities.

A cleaner washes a glass with a used face washer in the video. (Weibo)

In one section of the video, which is captioned in Chinese, he criticises a cleaner for washing dishes with a cloth that had been stored next to a used toilet-scrubbing brush.
The captions indicated that the incident was filmed at the Le Royal Meridien Shanghai, and that he had paid 1,600 yuan ($317) a night for the room.
The clip has been shared more than 80,000 times online and a topic section on Weibo dedicated to the video has been clicked on 99 million times.
"Even the best hotels in China, their hygiene and ethics levels are not comparable to a small hotel in Japan," one user wrote.
Others pointed out that hygiene at hotels was an ongoing concern for locals — but said it was surprising to this sort of behaviour at luxury hotels.
"Everyone knows about it, the hotel has high and low levels. But some people have no bottom line," said another Weibo user.

A hotel cleaner uses a guest towel to wash a sink in the video. (Weibo)

Seven of the hotels filmed were in the city of Shanghai, where the local tourism authority is conducting investigations into the issues raised in the video.

Xi Jinping's Empty Promises

China puts on a big show, but not everyone is buying its trade message
By Evelyn Cheng

SHANGHAI, China — China's largest city rolled out the red carpet this week to help Xi Jinping try to show other nations how "serious" his country is about becoming their best customer.
By official figures, more than 400,000 buyers — including representatives from nearly all of China's state-owned enterprises — had the chance to meet with more than 3,600 businesses from 172 countries at the China International Import Expo. 

Johnson and Johnson, Honeywell, General Motors and Google were among the nearly 180 American companies reportedly attending.
To welcome the businesses, a handful of international state leaders and the Chinese dictator, Shanghai lit up its buildings across town on Sunday night. 

Roads shut down, local schools and government offices closed for two days and tech giant Didi partially suspended its ride-hailing service. 

Roughly 300 students from the local prestigious colleges volunteered to direct visitors around a four-leaf clover exhibition space the size of at least 55 football fields near Shanghai's Hongqiao Airport on the western edge of town. 

An army of security officers hovered the grounds, and sometimes made guests walk through gated entrances with roughly 30 turns.
Of the Communist government's many goals for the import expo — billed as the first of many — "one is to increase China's prestige as a market, as a global leader in international commerce," said Craig Allen, president of the U.S.-China Business Council.
But as for Xi's stated aim of turning China into a global market importer, "a trade show is probably not particularly relevant," Allen said. 

Rather, he said, "the real test is whether or not the policy measures promised by Xi will be implemented in the near term."
Xi kicked off the expo on Monday with a speech that mostly reiterated past empty promises to further open up the world's second-largest economy to foreign players.
As his country faces rising tensions with its largest trading partner, Xi pledged again greater punishments for intellectual property theft — a point of contention with the Trump administration. 

The Chinese dictator who this year abolished presidential term limits also said his country will further lower import tariffs and speed up the opening of sectors such as education and culture.
Those are moves in the direction the West would like to see, but not enough.
"What matters to us is that concrete actions are forthcoming and that reforms are clearly timetabled," Carlo D'Andrea, vice president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China and chairman of the Shanghai Chapter, said in a statement. 

"If China really will continue to open up, we would have expected additional and specific commitments to have been announced by Xi (on Monday)."
Although many companies may not yet have the open access to China they would like, they may be selling more to the country if promises sealed at the expo are met.
"What we are hearing anecdotally, both state-owned enterprises and municipal provincial governments are here in a big way," Allen said. 

"They are working on lots of contracts. I hope at the end of the show there will be a final accounting (of deals)."
When contacted by CNBC, the expo said provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government and those with independent planning status, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, state-owned enterprises and the National Health and Health Commission have set up 39 trading groups with 592 subdivisions, for a total of more than 400,000 buyers. 

There are also several thousand foreign buyers, the expo said.
Information on how much the groups were purchasing was not immediately available.
On Tuesday, the country's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission announced that so far, 13 of China's state-owned enterprises have signed deals "with large foreign businesses and enterprises on imports, services and technology cooperation projects."
The companies include Volkswagen, Westinghouse Electric, robotics and power grid company ABB, Carnival, Rolls-Royce and Standard Chartered, according to the announcement. 

Total deal amounts were not disclosed, although two of the agreements had a listed combined value of about $3 billion. 

A press event scheduled for Thursday on the transactions of Chinese state-owned enterprises during the expo was cancelled without explanation.
Carnival and Standard Chartered confirmed the deals. 

Volkswagen said it signed a memorandum of cooperation with its Chinese joint venture under which the Asian arm will import parts and vehicles worth a total of about 62 billion yuan ($8.9 billion). 

The other companies did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Many other businesses and buyers were busy signing purchase agreements throughout the exhibition halls and country pavilion. 

Swedish medical equipment company Elekta said many hospitals came to sign such contracts.
"During the past two days, many purchasing (delegations have) expressed their positive intentions, further indicating the huge demand of (China's) market," Richard Hausmann, president and Chief Executive Officer of Elekta, said in a statement to CNBC.
Liu Qianqian, a marketing supervisor for U.S.-based industrial diagnostic equipment company Fluke, said in an interview the company had signed purchase agreements with many state-owned and private companies. 

Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com also used the expo to announce plans to help China import $200 billion and $14.4 billion of foreign goods, respectively.
It's not clear if these agreements or purchases would have happened anyway without the expo. 

China wants to boost consumption as it is in the middle of a years-long process of reducing reliance on manufacturing-driven growth.
Shanghai residents also paid a cost to host the event. 

Last-minute road closures for motorcades of visiting dignitaries caused traffic jams that more than doubled travel time. 

The office holidays merely shifted the working days to the weekend. 

Anecdotally, tickets to the expo itself were also very difficult to get.
Still, China is already gearing up for round two. 

Advertisements in the exhibition center encouraged businesses to sign up for next year — an office at one end of the building was set up for that very purpose. 

If Beijing is short on reforms, Xi appears set on trying to make good on his Monday pledge to import $30 trillion in goods and $10 trillion in services in the next 15 years.

A Chinese woman who poured ink over a Xi Jinping poster has been missing for 2 weeks, and her father was detained

• Dong Yaoqiong earlier this month posted a video of herself protesting Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party, pouring ink on a poster of the Chinese dictator.
• The video has been taken down, and nobody has seen her.
• Her father and a Chinese artist supporting her were detained and have also gone missing after publicly demanding her whereabouts.
• China has been trying to cement Xi's position as the most powerful person in the country.

By Alexandra Ma
Dong Yaoqiong livestreaming herself defacing a poster of Xi Jinping in Shanghai, China, on July 4.

A Chinese woman has been missing for two weeks after posting a video of herself pouring black ink over a poster of Xi Jinping.
Dong Yaoqiong posted the video of her protest on July 4 and hasn't been seen since. 

The original video was removed from her Twitter account, @feefeefly, but has been reposted by supporters.
In the video — in which she identifies the time as shortly after 6:40 a.m. and her location as Shanghai's Lujiazui financial district — Dong can be heard repeatedly shouting "I am against Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party" and accusing the party of carrying out "oppressive brain control."
After defacing a poster of Xi's face, Dong says: "Seen it yet? This was my behavior." 

She can then be seen waving to commuters passing by.
A version of the video was reposted by the Chinese artist Hua Yong, though some of the audio and visuals don't match up entirely.
Later that afternoon, Dong posted photos of what appear to be police officers from a door's peephole.
According to the Hong Kong Free Press, she said: "Right now there are a group of people wearing uniforms outside my door. I'll go out after I change my clothes. I did not commit a crime. The people and groups that hurt me are the ones who are guilty."
She has not been seen since that broadcast, and those photos have disappeared from her Twitter account.

Hua and Dong's father, Dong Jianbiao, have been detained while publicly demanding to know her whereabouts, Agence France-Presse and Radio Free Asia reported.
Hua and Dong Jianbiao livestreamed a video on Friday in which Dong identified himself and called for his daughter's release. 

A man purporting to be a plainclothes police officer then knocks on the door and can be heard saying he wants to take the pair away for investigation.
The video ends with the man entering the property and ignoring Hua's question about whether he has a search warrant.
Hua was detained for questioning and released on Monday but has not been seen in person, a friend of his told Radio Free Asia. 

The friend added that Dong Jianbiao had most likely been escorted back to his hometown.

Dong Yaoqiong's protest comes as China ramps up its efforts to secure Xi's position as the most powerful man in the country. 

China abolished presidential term limits earlier this year, meaning Xi can rule for life if he wants to.
People seen as a threat to China's ruling party have mysteriously gone missing in the past. 

In 2015, five Hong Kong booksellers that had sold works critical of Chinese leaders disappeared over two months. 

All have since reappeared, while four talked to state media appearing to confess to their alleged crimes against the Chinese state.
China has also routinely censored social-media posts appearing to criticize Xi.

Chinese Peeping

Chinese are spying on Victoria’s Secret lingerie show
By Oli Coleman

China has watchful eyes on the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show debacle in China is becoming increasingly bizarre.
While staffers for the lingerie giant scramble to get Monday’s show in Shanghai back on track after a string of problems obtaining visas for models and performers such as Katy Perry and Gigi Hadid — both of whom were denied — as well as permits for press, they’ve been even more hampered by the fact that e-mails of VS show staffers and production crew are being monitored by Chinese authorities.
TV and media-industry insiders who are desperately trying to figure out what’s going on amid the production chaos are getting frustrated by messages from colleagues in China simply saying that they can’t speak frankly about the issues with the government because their communications are being watched.
As The Post has reported, Perry — who was booked to perform during the glitzy annual show — had her visa application declined because she once showed support for Taiwan (which is in an independence struggle with China) during a Beijing concert.
Victoria’s Secret Angel Hadid has been rebuffed by officials because she once drew criticism for posing insensitively with a cookie shaped like the Buddha. 

Plus, fellow Angel Adriana Lima’s visa application has been imperiled by an unknown “diplomatic issue.”

Said a source about the VS undie surveillance, “They want to discuss what’s going on as far as replacements for those denied visas and alternative arrangements, but they have to be tight-lipped because it seems that the government is watching their e-mails,” said a source.
Media traveling to China for the event have also been thwarted by the authorities. 

We’re told that many fashion bloggers have been denied visas, and TV producers have discovered that they need permits to shoot outside of the Mercedes-Benz Arena, where the show — which will, fingers-crossed, air on CBS later this month — is taking place. 

As one source put it, “If you’re going to China you want to show that you’re in China!”
Victoria’s Secret didn’t get back to us.

Promoter AEG, Bon Jovi and the Dalai Lama

By Kathy Chu

Bon Jovi’s performance in front of an image of the Dalai Lama

Journalist Ann Curry, the Dalai Lama, Lady Gaga and Philip Anschutz at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Indianapolis in June.

A week before American rock band Bon Jovi was set to play its first-ever concerts in mainland China last year, the shows were abruptly canceled.
The promoter, AEG Live—a subsidiary of Los Angeles-based Anschutz Entertainment Group, controlled by reclusive mogul Philip Anschutz—didn’t offer any public explanation for the cancellations. 

Press reports at the time, citing anonymous sources, blamed the band’s performance a few years earlier in front of an image of the Dalai Lama that led to the Chinese government revoking the permit for concerts in Beijing and Shanghai.
Left out of those contemporary accounts was who had circulated the image to begin with, and why.
People close to AEG spread the clip in hopes the Chinese government would force them to cancel, according to people with knowledge of the episode. 

The promoter deliberately provoked China’s ire, they said, because ticket sales were so soft that company executives worried they would lose money if they went ahead with the shows.
Bon Jovi stood to earn more than $4 million if the China shows had taken place, according to a person familiar with the matter; instead, this person added, AEG paid the band less than $1 million after invoking a “force majeure,” or act of God, clause, because Chinese officials had canceled the concerts.
Jay Marciano, chairman of AEG Live and chief operating officer of AEG, dismisses that account. “It’s an absurd notion that AEG would ever involve a government agency in order to mitigate a show loss. Our relationships with talent are too important, especially with Bon Jovi,” he said, adding that the company had promoted the band’s shows for more than a decade.
A representative for Bon Jovi said the band was “alerted only that the permits had been revoked” and had no knowledge of who had circulated the video.
The incident underscores the challenges one of the world’s largest concert promoters faces in China, a market that has proven difficult for foreign entertainment companies to crack amid an economic slowdown, tight government controls and fickle consumer tastes.
Frustrated with its lack of traction since entering mainland China a decade ago, AEG has been shifting its focus to other Asian markets including Singapore, Macau and Seoul, according to people familiar with the matter, while seeking a new strategic partner in China to help get its business there back on track. 

Mr. Marciano said “in no way are we looking to divest our assets in China” but rather are seeking partners that could create “new opportunities.”
AEG manages two arenas in China: The Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai has been successful, while the Damai Center in Dalian, a commercial hub in northeastern China, has not developed as quickly as expected. 

Potential investors such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. ’s Alisports division aren’t interested in investing in only the Dalian venue, people familiar with the matter said, but would insist on taking a stake in the better-performing Shanghai venue’s management, too.
John Cappo, AEG China’s chief executive, said the company has been speaking with “various strategic partners,” but declined to comment on whether it is talking with Alisports about investing in its China arena operations.
Alisports, in a written response, said that it has had “casual exchanges” with AEG on investment in its China assets, but no concrete progress has been made.
AEG is making money in China, according to people familiar with the matter, but has faced conflicts with business partners over arena operations and a government anticorruption campaign that has eaten into ticket sales.
While China is “challenging for any company,” according to Mr. Cappo, the 18,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai—which has hosted Western acts such as Taylor Swift and the Rolling Stones—is “not only the most successful venue in China, but the most successful venue in Asia.”
AEG owns or operates more than 100 venues—and in some cases the surrounding real estate—around the world, while promoting concerts through its AEG Live division. 

Its ambitions were likewise grand for China when it entered the market in 2008. 

Company management at the time hoped to invest $100 million to develop and run a dozen arenas throughout China that would host large-scale concerts and sports events.
Now, though, after investing around $50 million, according to people familiar with the matter, AEG manages only the Shanghai and Dalian arenas, and consults on a Beijing arena. 

It has realized that Shanghai is its primary market in China, given the city’s commercial vibe and unique interest in Western entertainment, these people said. 

In Dalian, ticket-buying culture has been slower to catch on, Mr. Cappo said.
While AEG’s China team is negotiating with partners on projects in the cities of Chengdu, Hangzhou and Chongqing, AEG’s top management is reluctant to expand its China footprint due to the slow growth and is looking to other Asian markets offering faster growth and fewer challenges, they added.
There were other reasons AEG’s traditional model didn’t work as hoped.
In China, entertainment and sports arenas, like other parts of the country’s entertainment industry, are strictly regulated by the government. 

Because AEG manages—rather than owns—arenas in China, its expansion into key cities relies on its relationships with these venue operators, mostly state-backed companies.
The danger is that, “as soon as you show your partners how to do something, they want to do it themselves,” said a person familiar with AEG’s China operations. 

“Operating arenas isn’t the most complicated thing in the world.”
In June, Mr. Anschutz, who insiders say has been anxious to recoup his investments in China, was photographed with the Dalai Lama at a conference of U.S. mayors in Indianapolis.
AEG declined to comment.

China Property Boom Spurs Fear of Bubble’s Burst

"The fact that the government said it’s a rumor means it’s going to be true"

By NEIL GOUGH and CAROLYN ZHANG

Older homes on Lufeng Road, including Zheng Ruizhen’s house. New apartment towers loom in the background. 

SHANGHAI — Zheng Ruizhen counted herself among the last holdouts on Lufeng Road.
Even as high-rises sprang up in recent years to surround her dilapidated home, Ms. Zheng, a 50-year-old schoolteacher, and her husband, Sun Guojian, held firm. 

He grew up there. 

Her school was a 20-minute bicycle ride away. 

They raised their son there, though he eventually grew so tall that his head grazed the ceiling of his cramped room. 

When city officials pushed them to sell, they said no.
Then came China’s latest property bubble — a frothy surge in prices that could have global repercussions if it pops.
In August, an unremarkable piece of land around the corner from Ms. Zheng sold for nearly $2,000 a square foot, a national record and nearly three times the average land price in Manhattan. 

Local officials grew more insistent and threatened to tear down their bathroom.
Finally, they relented, and Ms. Zheng’s husband signed away the home for a price to be determined later. 

Then, on Oct. 9, Mr. Sun died of a heart attack, something Ms. Zheng said was perhaps influenced by stress over the pending demolition of their home.
Zheng Ruizhen in her home. Local officials threatened to tear down the bathroom before her husband finally gave in and signed away the home. 

Now, as she grieves, she is waiting to hear how much the Shanghai government will offer in compensation — but however much that is, she knows it will not be enough for her to be able to afford to live anywhere close to Lufeng Road.

Said Ms. Zheng: “I never expected housing prices in Shanghai would get this high.”
China is in the midst of a dizzying housing bubble. 

Shanghai’s average housing price is up nearly one-third from a year ago, with prices in major cities like Beijing and Guangzhou not far behind. 

Chinese consumers are rushing to buy homes before the government steps in with restrictions.
When rumors swept through Shanghai that the government would require homeowners to pay more in taxes and down payments to buy additional properties, many couples filed for divorce so that one partner could still be treated as an independent buyer.
China has experienced housing booms and busts before. 

And fervor for real estate among the wealthiest Chinese has already spread far beyond the country’s borders, from Long Island mansions to disused ranches in Texas— many to get their money out of the country.
But economists warn that the current boom on the Chinese mainland could be extra difficult to resolve: It comes with a growing amount of American-style debt.

Zheng Ruizhen watches TV in her house. Her husband, who died this week, grew up in the home.

Long-term household loans — mostly mortgages — have doubled as a share of total official bank lending this year. 

They accounted for about 40 percent of all new loans in August, contrasted with just 20 percent at the start of the year. 

The value of new home loans as a percentage of all housing sales has surged to a record high.
The loans — largely a byproduct of a flood of Chinese lending to keep the economy growing — are helping the affluent, the middle class and low earners who have dreamed of owning a home, while investors and speculators are piling in, too. 

Underground lenders — those who operate outside the formal banking system using a variety of new platforms — are also helping to feed the boom.
Last month, economists at the Bank of China warned in a report that worsening asset price bubbles were adding to a frothy market that could result in trouble. 

The day before, Wang Jianlin, a politically connected property and entertainment magnate who is one of the country’s richest people, told CNN that China property was “the biggest bubble in history.”
That could be bad news for the global economy. 

Many economists estimate that housing and related areas — like construction, cement manufacturing or furniture making — account for roughly one-fifth of China’s economic activity. 

But if the bubble pops, that support could disappear quickly.
Chinese officials, apparently mindful of the 2008 American housing bust, appear to be aware of the risks of a debt-fueled property bubble. 

But some economists worry they will be too slow to rein it in.

Sun Guojian, Ms. Zheng’s husband, rode off to work as a courier earlier this month. He died this week of a heart attack. 

“The risk is that the government is late in cooling the market, the rally spreads to more areas, pushing up household leverage and construction activity, pushing the bubble bigger, which is then followed by a bigger downward correction,” said Tao Wang, the head of China economics at UBS in Hong Kong.
Local regulators are already trying to cool things down. 

In the last few weeks, local authorities have accelerated efforts to tighten housing markets in up to 20 Chinese cities, according to economists at China International Capital Corporation, an investment bank.
But in many cases these steps have only added to the rush, as home buyers move in while they can.
By her account, Zhang Xia and her husband have enjoyed a happy marriage. 

Then the rumor swept the city that Shanghai authorities would make it harder for couples with one home to buy more.
On a recent Monday, Ms. Zhang, a 40-year-old resident of Shanghai’s Huangpu area, and her husband sat waiting at a local marriage registry office to file for divorce. 

Shanghai officials continue to deny that they will limit house buying by couples, but Ms. Zhang is among many who do not believe them.
“We know the government said this is a rumor, but they also said that a few times before, when the rumor actually came true,” Ms. Zhang said. 

“People even said the fact that the government said it’s a rumor means it’s going to be true.”

This empty lot about 300 feet from Zheng Ruizhen’s home recently sold for a record price.

Shanghai, China’s financial capital, is at the heart of the property boom. 

Demand there is so intense that developers now commonly require sizable deposits of cash just to join a lottery to buy a new apartment. 

Only holders of winning numbers will be offered the chance to buy a unit. 

One flashy new development in central Shanghai charges a refundable 200,000 renminbi, or $30,000, to enter its lottery.
“In Shanghai now,” said Wang Jie, a sales manager there, “it’s not like you can buy an apartment just because you have money.”
Back on Lufeng Road, the recently widowed Ms. Zheng and her neighbors try to go about their lives despite the boom going on around them. 

Men and women play mah-jongg near a half-demolished house, one of a number of dwellings along the road in various states of disassembly, like a row of rotting teeth. 

Stray dogs sunbathe and alley cats hunt around piles of red bricks and wooden beams scattered on the street.
In recent months, local officials hung red propaganda banners on people’s housing extolling the benefits of selling out. 

“No more hesitation means no more disappointment,” reads one. 

Says another: “Requisition and compensation are lawful. Smart alecks will regret it later.”

“Look at those banners,” Ms. Zheng said, shaking her head. 

“It’s almost like the Cultural Revolution once again.”
Earlier, local officials told Ms. Zheng that the land where her home stands would be used to build supporting facilities for the next-door complex of high-rises built by China Vanke, the country’s largest property developer.
“They said that when people who live in the high-rises in Vanke look down, the view from their windows is our ugly roofs,” she said. 

“So they have to get rid of us.”