The Great Wall replica backed by high rise condominiums of Shenzhen's newly rich, Splendid China theme park, Shenzhen, China.-To observe a society in a snapshot of time can create a false impression. Erasing the past is nothing new to China. The Communist Revolution and the nightmare of the Cultural Revolution, are two recent examples of such iconoclastic behavior. What is different now is the scale and concentration of the effort. It is distilled in its purity and awe inspiring for its totality. Shenzhen encapsulates this rush in as a case study for the pitfalls of change.