Episode 6 of Bird’s-eye China: Shanghai, a gateway to the world

china it's truly a vast and fascinating country nine million six hundred thousand square kilometers of land three million square kilometers of seas [Music] and it's never still changing with the rotation of the seasons [Music] to fly like a bird is to see things that are beyond your imagination you visit places you would never before have dreamed of [Music] and even familiar places when you look down on them from on high will assume a completely different appearance [Music] we'll take you to explore places close at hand and far away to witness nature and geography humanity and history join us as we embark on a unique journey across the sky [Music] this is shanghai the great metropolis located on china's east coast at the point where the yangtze empties into the sea the city lies on a plane which is on average just four meters above sea level two rivers across shanghai the suzhou and the huang pool the area of the city west of the hwang pool is called shi and that to the east pudong we'll begin our journey at the mouth of the wangpu river and fly upstream to gain our first sight of shanghai's extraordinary skyline here the yangtze is made by its final tributary the huang pool the point where the yangtze passes the lighthouse and empties into the east china sea marks the end of its 6 300 kilometer [Music] journey the value of the site where shanghai stands today was recognized just over a century ago here the sea connects with the rest of the world while the yangtze provides access to china's hinterland accessibility has been the key to shanghai's rapid development [Music] moving upstream along the huangpu before long we arrive at the bund [Music] more than 20 western style buildings come into view along the riverfront they are the defining image of the band [Music] the band is just 1500 meters long yet at one time half of china's entire wealth was concentrated here [Music] before its rise the bund was nothing more than a muddy shoal but following the opium war of 1840 when shanghai was forced to open up as an international port british merchants began taking an interest in the stretch of riverbank almost overnight its fate was transformed at the southern end of the bund is the old meteorological tower dating from the late 19th century flags flown from the tower would indicate to ships entering the port what the weather conditions were like [Music] originally a huge black iron ball rested on top of the tower at precisely 12 noon every day this iron ball would drop people would set their timepieces accordingly [Music] in 1927 a more modern clock was installed on another building on the bond this clock was brought here from the uk even in the earliest period of globalization the need to be connected and keep pace with the rest of the world was recognized here in shanghai so greenwich meantime was adopted with shanghai becoming the first recognized city in the gmt plus eight time zone with shanghai emerging as a major international port financial institutions flocked to the bond the building with the white dome was once the headquarters of a powerful bank the neo-classical design exudes an air of elegance and solemnity this style has long been adopted by banks around the world in order to convey the impression of strength and stability [Music] this is shanghai's busiest street despite originally being part of the city's french concession for a long time it was nothing more than a dirt track where the british walked their horses because of this it was known as the horse path the horse path would become the starting point of china's journey to modernization this route would have shanghai's first road lamp and first tramline eventually it was given the name it's known by today nanjing road [Music] next by following shanghai's rivers we'll seek out the city's industrial genes we'll see how old factory buildings have become art galleries and how traditional industries are striving to become city hallmarks the suzhou river is the main waterway connecting shanghai with the surrounding cities and rural areas before shanghai became an international port the river was known as the wu song it was renamed after foreign settlers in shanghai realized that it led to the city of suzhou [Music] the end of the suzhou river is marked by a bridge [Music] when this bridge was built in 1907 it was called the baidu or toll-free bridge no one crossing it was expected to pay [Music] the sluice at the bridge is opened twice a day to regulate the water level when it's open it allows the suzhou river to empty into the much wider huang pool [Music] the one pool river with its source in jujiang province runs through the city from west to east with shanghai's rapid industrial development in the early 20th century larger waterways were needed for transporting raw materials and generating hydroelectric energy the sojourn river was clearly too small to serve such purposes so merchants turned instead to the huang pool [Music] this building with the tall chimneys was once a power plant it supplied the current for shanghai's first electric lamp today this spacious building provides a home for works of art while old buildings like this have been given a new lease of life a number of traditional industries have been revitalized shipbuilding has been part of the shanghai economy for a very long time [Music] over a century ago china's first modern shipbuilding company was founded right here on the huangpu river today there are few types of ship that shanghai cannot build [Music] work is currently underway on the hull of a 320 000 ton oil tanker the total cost of the order is 80 million us dollars every year shanghai wai gao chiao shipbuilding company limited builds more than 20 super large ships like this [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] china it's truly a vast and fascinating country nine million six hundred thousand square kilometers of land three million square kilometers of seas [Music] and it's never still changing with the rotation of the seasons [Music] to fly like a bird is to see things that are beyond your imagination you visit places you would never before have dreamed of [Music] and even familiar places when you look down on them from on high will assume a completely different appearance [Music] we'll take you to explore places close at hand and far away to witness nature and geography humanity and history join us as we embark on a unique journey across the sky to visit shanghai is to take a journey through time the buildings are like clocks indicating the time they belong to as we fly among the different structures we get a sense of how open-minded the city has always been even during troubled times the old buildings fine sites in themselves also have amazing stories to tell less than 50 kilometers from central shanghai there's a quaint old town called julia jiao before shanghai became an international port it was known as little suzhou the town of jujiajiao is 1700 years old in shanghai itself there's an ancient temple that's just as old [Music] this is longhua temple said to have originally been built one thousand seven hundred years ago in the tang dynasty empress wu zertian had a buddha hall built here [Music] for a thousand years visitors have flocked to longhua temple it's also where the locals come in spring to pray for happiness [Music] while this city often appears to be youthful in reality it has a very long history [Music] in central shanghai there's an elegant southern style garden [Music] in the main dynasty yu yuan was a private garden today it's an oasis of peace and tranquility for the people of the city [Music] uuang garden is a particularly popular destination during lanson festival [Music] the festival is dominated by lanterns as it's the year of the rooster the lanterns feature roosters [Music] we head towards joe chew bridge it's said that ghosts can only move in straight lines so walking across the zigzag joe 2 bridge allows you to escape from these evil spirits [Music] the tradition of holding a lantern fair in uuan garden dates from the late qing dynasty [Music] in this modern era where change is a constant feature traditions are especially prized [Music] as we fly over shanghai we occasionally see neatly arranged houses with red roofs despite appearances these are not modern villas they are in fact some of shanghai's oldest buildings before the people's republic of china was founded in 1949 they housed 60 percent of the city's population the main entrances feature door frames made of stone so they're known as chakumen or stone gate houses in the late 19th century the jiangsu jiu-jiang region was plagued by warfare so people fled the area in large numbers for shanghai their arrival created a shortage of housing so to save space houses were built in orderly rows rich families could buy a number of these shaku men while poorer ones would share one with several other families [Music] this particular stone gateway is a witness to history here in 1921 13 delegates from across the country founded the communist party of china [Music] 28 years later under this party the people's republic of china was founded [Music] [Music] fascinating old buildings are to be found dotted throughout shanghai the ohio moshe synagogue close to changhang road is one of the city's most famous sites [Music] on this wall are inscribed the names of more than ten thousand jewish refugees all of them at one time lived in shanghai [Music] and all of them worshipped at the orgel moshe synagogue [Music] during the second world war 30 000 jews arrived in shanghai having fled nazi persecution the city was the only place in china at the time that they could enter without a visa [Music] the sculpture depicts a local shanghai woman sheltering a jewish girl it illustrates how the city has cared for persecuted people forced to flee their homeland [Music] next we'll fly to southwestern shanghai where we'll get an impression of how the city looked in the old days [Music] we'll visit a film park filled with replicas of famous sites on the bond where numerous films and television programs set in shanghai have been filmed [Music] when recreating old shanghai in films and on tv the trolley buses are an essential feature with careful arrangement as few as 10 actors can give the impression of a bustling shanghai street scene in some dramas actors are obliged to fly but with the help of a wire this isn't a problem [Music] with their usual fast pace and riveting storylines films about shanghai are typically very popular [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] china it's truly a vast and fascinating country nine million six hundred thousand square kilometers of land three million square kilometers of seas [Music] and it's never still changing with the rotation of the seasons [Music] to fly like a bird is to see things that are beyond your imagination you visit places you would never before have dreamed of [Music] and even familiar places when you look down on them from on high will assume a completely different [Music] appearance [Music] we'll take you to explore places close at hand and far away to witness nature and geography humanity and history join us as we embark on a unique journey across the sky [Music] next on our shanghai journey we'll visit the city's financial center from on high we'll gain a view of the vertical worlds people have created here every morning crowds of people catch the ferry across the wangpool river on their way to work the ferry used to be the main means of transport between the two sides of the huangpoo [Music] that was until 1976 when the first bridge was built over the river [Music] since then a new bridge has been built here every three years flying over the luau pool bridge we reach the heart of shanghai here the wangpu river takes a 90 degree turn popularly known as the golden bend [Music] for many years the band on the hwang pools west bank was the wealthiest place in china but in the 1990s luja's way on the east bank took its place this is the oriental pearl tower the first modern high rise on the east bank of the wangpool the tower was designed to transmit tv signals across this massive city built at a cost of 800 million yuan it's the world's third tallest tv tower in the evenings the oriental pearl tower changes color usually it's blue or white but for holidays it turns pink during the beijing olympics in 2008 the tower was as red as china's national flag as a mark of respect following the terrorists attacks in paris in 2015 the tower featured the colours of the french flag such gestures reveal a lot about the character of shanghai's people [Music] this building dwarfed by skyscrapers is the historical launch pad of china's capital market it was in shanghai in 1990 that the first stock exchange in the people's republic of china opened to business this building was completed just three years later the ground floor hall can accommodate 1 600 traders at a time when the stock exchange first opened it was overwhelmed by investors people who had failed to get inside used binoculars to see what was going on some even traded stocks via walkie-talkies this is the jinmao tower in luja's way standing over 400 metres high with its tall stately appearance it resembles a traditional pagoda the number of flaws 88 is symbolic eight is a lucky number in china [Music] yet the man who designed the building wasn't chinese but american the people on the edge of the tower are using the skywalk it's an open-air glass-bottomed pathway 340 meters above the ground [Music] next to the jing mao tower is the shanghai world financial center the top of the building features a trapezoid opening earning her to the nickname the bottle opener [Music] like a sail the taller a tower is the more wind it catches the designer of this 492 meter tower took the bold decision of leaving an opening at the top by letting the wind pass through its impact on the building has been [Music] reduced it wasn't long however before an even taller building sprang up beside the world financial centre shanghai is one of the tallest cities in the world [Music] the shanghai tower at 632 meters is the tallest building in china [Music] this 127 story building has a floor space of 500 000 square meters it's capable of accommodating 30 000 workers at a time [Music] and it's an energy efficient tower on the top of the tower there are 270 wind turbines the energy these generate from the high altitude winds powers the lighting for much of the building [Music] on top of the tower there's a spiral system that traps rain water the water is channeled into huge tanks which supply the building with water [Music] in this part of the city every building is a financial center in itself as for the district look jasway influences every other part of shanghai as the city's financial centre it's creating a modern legend thirty years ago this was an area of fields but when shanghai was embarking on a period of rapid development it happened to be the right place at the right time [Music] [Music] even in this modern city the sounds of traditional matchmaking can still be heard we'll also hear a song of joy emanating from a paradise for children and will witness a carnival in a kingdom of animals [Music] it's generally recognized that the heart of shanghai is people's square [Music] located at the center of the square is a magnificent building [Music] near the square there's a park every weekend it becomes a matchmaking venue however the matchmakers aren't third parties they're the parents of the potential [Music] couples the open umbrellas provide personal information about the marriage seekers height career income and of course the kind of spouse they're looking for [Music] [Music] [Music] from emerging powers to expanding partnerships from fighting poverty to combating climate change booming economies war-ravaged nations and everything in between we capture the changes affecting the most dynamic and diverse continent on the planet taking you beyond the headlines to the people and their stories asia today delivering asia to the world china it's truly a vast and fascinating country nine million six hundred thousand square kilometers of land three million square kilometers of seas [Music] and it's never still changing with the rotation of the seasons [Music] to fly like a bird is to see things that are beyond your imagination you visit places you would never before have dreamed of [Music] and even familiar places when you look down on them from on high will assume a completely different appearance [Music] we'll take you to explore places close at hand and far away to witness nature and geography humanity and history join us as we embark on a unique journey across the sky [Music] next we're flying south to a popular resort 60 years after disneyland first opened in the united states it finally arrived in shanghai the tallest building in shanghai disneyland is the enchanted storybook castle the design is based on neuschwanstein castle in germany although there is a chinese addition a peony at the top [Music] [Music] there's also a park based on traditional chinese garden design in every host country disneyland attempts to embrace local features not far from shanghai disneyland there's a united nations of animals it brings together creatures from all over the globe [Music] first to greet us are the kangaroos the iconic marsupials from australia they seem to be very interested in their drone [Music] the mere cats from southern africa look both shy and curious the dark spots around their eyes act as natural sunglasses [Music] even when the sunlight is very intense they can look at the sun without damaging their sight not all penguins live in the freezing [Music] antarctic these magellanic penguins come from the temperate zone in south america next up the flamingos [Music] [Applause] the ones with pink plumage are greater flamingos those with red feathers are american flamingos [Music] red is not their original color it's a byproduct of their diet red or orange particles are broken down and stored in their bodies to appear sometime later in their plumage large numbers of bears are found in the park the ones with a v on the fur are malayan sun bears [Music] those that are dancing are brown bears [Music] these immigrants from different countries share certain hobbies in common [Music] in return for food they climb trees or even drive vehicles [Music] in these forests south of the wangpool river lives an unusual species of small deer-like animal [Music] the popular impression of them is that they're extremely ugly their name in chinese jianto means head of a buck eyes of a rat [Music] it isn't fair however to judge things by their appearance these water deer are very timid animals they just want to lie low in the forest the water deer which are native to shanghai died out here 100 years ago but in 2007 20 of them were imported and now their number has risen to over [Music] 300. [Music] there's something captivating about a city that's forever young shanghai is full of vitality and it makes people forget they're getting old [Music] dienshan lake on the western outskirts of shanghai is a popular place for sailing and here people run for the simple joy of it [Applause] people cheer for the team they support enjoying the competition but they also share a bond for everyone watching this is their home [Applause] stadium when the lights are turned on shanghai becomes even more beautiful and each pinpoint of light has a story behind it [Music] over 20 million people have chosen to pursue their dreams in this city [Music] shanghai's development is founded on the accumulation of talent the city has distinguished itself by bringing together ideas and sharing resources on the last leg of our shanghai tour we'll find that this is a city aiming both far and high we'll explore the great potential of the latest science and technology and will experience china at high speed we'll also visit an amazing new project and see how it will bring the world together this quiet stretch of land called chongming island lies at the point where the yangtze empties into the sea it's little more than 40 kilometers from central shanghai [Music] silt delivered by the yangtze continues to build this island up in fact it's been steadily getting bigger for the past 1 300 years it's currently expanding towards the east china sea at a rate of 200 meters a year [Music] at the island's easternmost end is dungtan an area of coastal wetland in summer this is a quiet place to rest in late autumn by contrast it's a place of intense activity when thousands of migratory birds flock here to pass the winter during this extraordinary migration it's the swans who are to be the most admired they've come all the way from siberia covering 1 000 kilometers a day to save their energy during the flights the cranes use the winds to their [Music] advantage this they do by forming either a splade or a herringbone pattern this amazing technique has evolved out of practical necessity saying goodbye to the cranes we return to modern day shanghai this is called the aeroplane building and seen from the air the reason for the name becomes obvious back in 1932 beginning with the january 28th incident the japanese began a series of air raids on shanghai this convinced china of the need to produce its own aircraft a year later the aeroplane building was erected at a cost of one hundred thousand yuan flying west we reach china's largest civil aircraft assembly centre this is the first regional jet made in china this one is in the final stages of assembly [Music] these jets have been ordered by chengdu airlines [Music] the c919 aircraft outside the plant are large commercial planes also made in china the bulk of the world's passenger planes are currently manufactured by boeing and airbus but the c919 will soon break this duopoly in the western suburbs of shanghai we find mount shirashan rising 100 meters above sea level it's shanghai's tallest mountain at this relatively unimpressive height scientists are working on extending the limits of human observation here 117 years ago the french established an astronomical observatory and set up china's first large telescope [Music] this made it possible to delve much deeper into the universe today at the foot of mount tianmar not far from here is asia's largest mobile radio telescope the telescope receives radio signals from space signals which may help us understand what the universe is like 10 billion light years away in 2013 the tianmar telescope working with five other telescopes in beijing xinjiang and other regions helped guide the chang er3 lunar probe to a precise landing on the moon [Music] we're about to follow this winding bridge out across the east china sea [Music] that's 32 kilometers long this is the second longest cross sea bridge in the world the s-shaped design acts to reduce the frontal impact from ocean currents [Music] the bridge leads to xiao yang shan island where a world-class container port is located the waters around yangshan port are 16 metres deep sufficient for the world's largest container ships to dock safely this super container ship is about 400 meters long and can carry fourteen thousand standard containers these containers if they were piled up would reach three times the height of mount tumulangma otherwise known as everest every day as many as 45 000 containers are moved through yangshen yet it's just one part of the shanghai port chain the container handling capacity of shanghai port accounts for roughly one-tenths of the world's total young shan port seen from the air reveal shanghai's determination to be a world leader shanghai has developed thanks to its location on the yangtze river in the course of little more than 100 years it's been transformed from a small harbour into one of the world's great ports shanghai has big dreams yet through its actions it reveals itself to be very much down to earth [Music] [Music] you

Channel: CGTN

Views: 283,280

Rating: 4.844646 out of 5

Keywords: CCTVNews, News, CGTN, ChinaNews, WorldNews, Shanghai, documentary, drone technology, metropolis, Yangtze, Huangpu, Oriental Pearl Tower, Shanghai Disneyland, C919 aircraft

Id: iPdMOC0a3E4

Length: 58min 58sec (3538 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 01 2017