For anyone numbed by the impersonal nature of modern Chinese apartment blocks or the frenzied pace of urban China, the earth buildings are enchanting reminders of communal village life and the ancient rhythms of the agrarian southeast.

BBC: The Hakka earth buildings of Fujian

More significantly, after a battle over saving a number of turn-of-the-century Chicago buildings, the city moved to protect several modern masterpieces including Mies's apartment blocks.

ECONOMIST: Mies van der Rohe

Modern offices, hotels and apartment blocks are sprouting up behind, replacing the pretty pink-and-white colonial buildings, drab crumbling flats and teeming shanty-towns.

ECONOMIST: The oil money may start to trickle down