How are China's ever-expanding small cities coping with the challenge of rapid growth? Daniel Chinoy finds out in Shanwei, a city that would be a major urban hub in any other nation.

On the coast of Guangdong province, two hours northeast of Shenzhen, is a city with a population of about 3.5 million, 500,000 more people than Chicago, and an annual GDP growth rate of about 17 percent. Few people have heard of this city.

With wide, tree-lined streets, ramshackle factories and bustling alleys lined with stalls offering everything from fresh fruit to motorcycle repairs, Shanwei would be a major urban center in almost any other country.