Walking around Chengdu

[xinoxanu]

Just wanted to share this channel I discovered a few weeks ago: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCas3AC0PvAbSvGDMV4dCA4Q/videos.

 

This may be of interest to those who enjoy watching calm walks around a city on a steady cam (like Rambalac does in Japan).

 

The person behind that channel does a great job in showcasing the best bits of Chengdu and already has uploaded a couple hours worth of footage, so you have plenty of places to start discovering or to feel nostalgic about.  If you don't know where to start, I recommend you this one, shot around Sichuan University, a very nice area filled both with students and foreigners alike.

 

If someone knows of other "walkers" around China, please let us know!

 

[889]

It's more than a shame that Google Streetview doesn't cover Mainland China.

[AaronUK]

2 hours ago, 889 said:

It's more than a shame that Google Streetview doesn't cover Mainland China.

 

Baidu maps has street view

https://maps.baidu.com/search/成都市/@11585287.67,3566032.77,21z,87t,103.78h?querytype=cur&wd=成都市&da_src=shareurl#panoid=09019200121709021355467108H&panotype=street&heading=256.21&pitch=0&l=21&tn=B_NORMAL_MAP&sc=0&newmap=1&shareurl=1&pid=09019200121709021355467108H

[889]

Thank you!

 

I seem to recall that some years ago you could sometimes get photos of shops and such on a particular street with Baidu but I didn't realise it had since gone the full 360-degree Google camera route.

[xinoxanu]

Yes, Baidu maps has been fully functional since a couple years ago. In fact, some cities saw their maps/views updated last month, so it's a great tool to see how China looks nowadays... albeit the quality is somewhat inconsistent in some places.

[roddy]

The most Chengdu thing about this is what I saw when I skipped to a random point in the video.

[xinoxanu]

31 minutes ago, roddy said:

The most Chengdu thing about this is what I saw when I skipped to a random point in the video.

 

哈哈

 

Yes, most definitely. This video was shot a couple weeks ago, mind you, so it's a testament to how the locals will stay true to their traditions even in the midst of a pandemic.

[mungouk]

@xinoxanu  That's almost a virtual reality experience, compared to lockdown... the furthest I've been from home in 4 months is the distance I can walk in 30 minutes.

Thanks! 

[xinoxanu]

Another walker in China: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC4gEA9-dTgxjSCQ6mcyjZw/videos

 

S/he has videos of Chongqing, Shanghai, Wuxi, Suzhou + other cities in Asia... Mostly at night, so it's quite interesting if you want to see how China looks at that time of the day

[msteve60]

@xinoxanu I'm actually a regular watcher of that Streets of Asia channel you linked to. They film in a large variety of cities and often in interesting backstreets and rundown areas that many expats never explore. Just recently I can see they uploaded Jinan, Tianjin, Chongqing, Nanjing, and Wuhan.

 

I especially love their Chongqing videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LArhIB_rVM&ab_channel=StreetsofAsia

 

And this one too (uploaded fairly recently): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWyZOxKG1EI&t=222s&ab_channel=StreetsofAsia

 

I find Chongqing such an utterly fascinating city (probably my favorite city I've visited), and these videos do a great job of capturing the grungy and unique atmosphere. Some their night ones filmed there are really awesome too.

 

Some other China walking channels I enjoy are these ones: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBb5Xa89N7xHjsa-T-D5yGQ

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbTkANPDZMEHrgTYxjW-DWA

 

 

[StChris]

1 hour ago, msteve60 said:

I find Chongqing such an utterly fascinating city (probably my favorite city I've visited), and these videos do a great job of capturing the grungy and unique atmosphere. Some their night ones filmed there are really awesome too

 

Yeah, Chongqing is a very special place. I spent 3 days there just aimless walking around and had a great time. Some of the angles of the buildings and footbridges seem to defy gravity. You'll be walking and suddenly find yourself very up above a different street. They were doing a lot of construction work down by the river when I was there in 2018. It looked like they were building some kind of park/green space, which would provide a nice contrast to the gritty urbaness of the rest of the city. I hope the city doesn't get modernised too much though.

[xinoxanu]

A couple more interesting videos that showcase things unique to Chengdu, like:

• The Second Ring Road BRT (成都快速公交) https://youtu.be/i-OuJj4wiAw. More on wikipedia.
• East Railway Station: https://youtu.be/CFZlKTnVcTo. Not as big as Shanghai's or Beijing's, but it still looks and feels like an airport!
• Global Center: https://youtu.be/5jzFlc7L0w8. The world's largest building in terms of floor area and therefore the biggest shopping mall on Earth. Comes with an artificial, indoor beach!