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]
so
[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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
you