A woman walks past an intersection at the Caofeidian industrial zone near Tangshan, Hebei province, China. (Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg)
(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- Conjured out of nothing and lived in by seemingly no one, China’s so-called ghost cities became the subject of Western media fascination a decade ago. Photos of these huge urban developments went viral online, presenting scenes of compelling weirdness: empty apartment towers stranded in a sea of mud; broad boulevards devoid of cars or people; over-the-top architectural showpieces with no apparent function.