And all along the sides of these chimneys is shimmering with heat and loaded with life.

They are home to most of the hundreds of millions of Chinese who have been lifted out of extreme poverty in just a few decades. Beijing and Shanghai are almost overwhelming in their scale and energy, lined with shimmering skyscrapers, adorned with bright neon lights, and teeming with increasingly cosmopolitan citizens.

Part of the problem, I think, is we stand at the beach, or we see images like this of the ocean, and you look out at this great big blue expanse, and it's shimmering and it's moving and there's waves and there's surf and there's tides, but you have no idea for what lies in there.