As China straddles an ideological gap between communism and capitalism, its accelerating appetite for material consumerism is reflected in the construction of some of the largest malls in the world. Ms. Fu Yuehong, the general manager of the New Yansha Group, which operates The Golden Resources Mall in Beijing said, "From the beginning we wanted the largest shopping center in the world. We are the country with the most people in the world. We have the fastest growing economy. The largest mall shows our progress as a society." And I believe it shows much more.

Created with an eye for scale and a focus on contrasts between east and west, old and new, these photographs examine the retail landscape of China’s malls as symbols of its dreams and aspirations.