Gallery: For a Nation of 1.4 Billion People, China Can Sure Look Empty
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A roadway in Aberdeen, Hong Kong.
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A street in Shanghai, China.
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A cemetery with a view in Hong Kong.
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Happy Valley, a residential area in Hong Kong.
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A bicycle parking lot in Shanghai, China.
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Skyscrapers at night in Hong Kong.
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Old homes in Shanghai, China, in the process of being demolished.
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Houses in Shanghai, China.
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Clothes drying on a rooftop in Shanghai, China.
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The entrance to a factory in Shanghai, China.
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Residential highrises in Hong Kong.
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A parking lot in Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park, which does not actually permit cars to enter.
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The Unesco-protected Mount Huangshan sits southwest of Shanghai in the Huangshan National Park.
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Another rooftop view of Shanghai, China.
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A rooftop view of Shanghai, China.
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A house in Dunhuang sits on the edge of a dusty road.
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Discarded piles of trash in Dunhuang, a city in China's northwest.
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A swimming pool in Jinshan, a suburb of Shanghai.
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