From The Observer:
China’s economic boom is starting to reach the most remote corners of western China, giving millions of the world’s poorest people a chance to think about something other than where their next meal is coming from.
But from the mountains of the Himalayas to the scrubland of Inner Mongolia, the quest for a modern consumer Utopia is also taking its toll on the environment.
Observer correspondent Jonathan Watts travelled more than 3,000 miles across the world’s fastest changing country asking people how their lives have been affected.
Read the full text of Watts’ report. Watch an interactive slideshow of his journey.
