Cities · Be a viewer · Seven open chapters

Where do you want to view?

Each city is entered through moving image, close observation and its own writers. Choose a city, ask it a question, then enter its story.

01 · Ceremony in motion

Beijing

Old geometry still organises the crowd, the sky and the pace of arrival.

I’ve been looking at Beijing through its axes, enclosures and ceremonial scale. The city becomes most interesting where that formal order softens into trees, walls, courtyards and the pace of ordinary movement.

Enter Beijing

Three questions

: The tension between monumental order and small everyday movement. Beijing feels most alive where those two scales overlap.
: Rooflines, red walls, long sightlines, courtyards and the way trees interrupt otherwise formal geometry.
: Begin with the central axis, then move outward. The city becomes more interesting as ceremony gives way to lived texture.

02 · The river as horizon

Shanghai

Light, finance and evening traffic gather along one restless edge.

I’ve been looking at Shanghai through river light, compressed streets and vertical ambition. The city rarely settles into one scale, shifting from polished spectacle to tight, restless street life within a few minutes.

Enter Shanghai

Three questions

: The city rarely settles into one scale. A polished skyline can collapse into a tight street within minutes.
: Reflections, river edges, pedestrian crossings, towers, haze and the small surfaces that sit underneath the skyline.
: Start at the river, then leave it. Shanghai becomes more legible when spectacle gives way to density.

03 · Memory at street level

Xi’an

The wall keeps history close enough to walk, touch and circle.

I’ve been looking at Xi’an through stone, brick, ritual scale and contemporary traffic. History remains physically close here, but the strongest frames appear when old structures keep organizing a city that is still moving around them.

Enter Xi’an

Three questions

: The old city keeps acting as structure, not scenery. Walls and pagodas still organize distance, orientation and attention.
: Thresholds, wall edges, pagodas, night lighting and the seam where tourism meets ordinary urban life.
: Walk the wall as a horizon, then return to street level. The contrast between those two views is the city’s strongest frame.

04 · A city still arriving

Shenzhen

By the bay, speed becomes skyline, reflection and ordinary night.

I’ve been looking at Shenzhen as a city still arriving. Speed becomes skyline, reflection, infrastructure and ordinary night, while the lack of a single historic center makes movement and transition more important than monuments.

Enter Shenzhen

Three questions

: The lack of a single historic center. Shenzhen reads through movement, edges and the confidence of things built recently.
: Glass, elevated roads, bay edges, new public space and the moments where polished infrastructure meets everyday use.
: Begin near the bay, then follow the infrastructure inland. The city reveals itself through transitions more than monuments.

05 · The coast as daily life

Xiamen

Sea air, dense hills and neighbourhood roofs keep the city close to the water.

I’ve been looking at Xiamen through coastline, humidity and softer light. Water keeps returning to the frame, so ferries, roads, hills and towers feel less like separate objects and more like parts of one long coastal edge.

Enter Xiamen

Three questions

: The water keeps returning to the frame. Ferries, roads and towers all seem to negotiate with the coastline.
: Harbor edges, boats, sea-facing roads, hills and the warm shift in color as the light lowers.
: Begin at the water. In Xiamen the coastline is not a backdrop, it is part of the city’s basic visual structure.

06 · Water before the street

Hangzhou

The frame begins on the lake and waits for the city to appear.

I’ve been looking at Hangzhou through distance, foliage, reflection and the way water often arrives before the street. The city feels strongest when architecture steps back and landscape is allowed to reorganise attention.

Enter Hangzhou

Three questions

: The city is strongest when architecture does not dominate the frame. Water and vegetation keep reorganising attention.
: Lake edges, bridges, soft horizons, reflections and the shift between scenic order and contemporary city life.
: Begin with the lake, but do not stop there. The useful contrast comes when the postcard image meets the city around it.

07 · Ground level undefined

Chongqing

Two rivers set the baseline. Streets, rail and buildings keep climbing above it.

I’ve been looking at Chongqing from river level upward. Streets, rail, bridges and buildings keep stacking above one another, so the city never seems to agree on a single ground plane or a final horizon.

Enter Chongqing

Three questions

: Ground level never feels final. The city keeps stacking another route, bridge or entrance above and below the last one.
: Vertical circulation, river crossings, rail, night light and the accidental views created by extreme topography.
: Begin at river level, then climb. Chongqing becomes legible only when you experience how often the city changes altitude.

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