Broad Group, a Chinese sustainable building company, has constructed a 30-storey tall hotel prototype in 360 hours near Hunan province's Dongting Lake. They claim the hotel can withstand a 9 magnitude earthquake, is five times more quake-resistant than conventional buildings and five times more energy efficient, with indoor air 20 times purer than the air outside. Make of that what you will, but the resulting timelapse video is pretty damn impressive.
Watch: Timelapse of 30-storey hotel built in just 360 hours!
Watch: 20-year timelapse of China's lights from space
The clip only lasts 5 seconds, so you have to watch it a few times to really appreciate what's happening. The most notable changes occur in northeast and central China, where lights push out from urban centers into more remote areas. Shanghai's glow notably expands from one small dot to encompass what looks like Hangzhou and Suzhou. Wired points out that the changes in a country's lights corresponds with things like the population and GDP growth, as well as war and economic collapse - which would explain the total darkness in North Korea.
Watch: My Beijing
Nice video portrait of the Chinese capital by French journalist Jordan Pouille:
Timelapse: I spy a city | Shanghai
Via Joe Nafis: "Our film is a meditation on a city, viewed from far above. We imagined a vast urban space, with its huge tower blocks, its monumental infrastructure, and its human population. We watched traffic pound the roads, and vast crowds move across public squares. And we wondered what would happen if we sped things up, watching minutes or hours of time pass in seconds, or stretched seconds into minutes. Seeing a city from far away, or at unusual speeds, gives it an alien quality. Movements that from close up seem individual and distinct suddenly seem mysteriously controlled - as if there is a more powerful mind at work imposing its will. The effect is to take something that we feel we understand, and view it through a new and utterly different lens. In the poem that overlays the film, we imagine this lens is shared by a couple in love, seeing the world this way for the first time, so that their sharing of the city is a part of their love, in all its mystery. And we wonder, is love too outside of their control?"
Watch: Lujiazui in the setting sun
A great timelapse (two actually) of Lujiazui's now famous Blade Runner-esque skyline greeting the night sky. By Atardecer en Shanghai.
Watch: Mini workers
800 photos of workers on a Chinese construction site in timelapse. By Felice Candilio.
Watch: Dawn above the cloud sea
Beautiful timelapse video by James Leng taken at the Monkey Gazing Over a Sea of Clouds (猴子观海) lookout at the Yellow Mountain, Huangshan. He writes: "After hiking 13km up HuangShan on the first day, we got up at 4am (after only 5hrs of sleep) to go see the sunrise over the mountain. At first it was a tease - the sky got brighter but we did not see the disk of the sun. When it finally began emerging from the grayness of the horizon, a large cloudmist swooped in to block its ascent from view. (the crowd was certainly displeased!) But at long last the mist dissipated, and the glow of morning illuminated the rolling waves of the cloudsea beneath."
Watch: Timelapse of the Italian Pavilion at Shanghai Expo
Last month, we asked you guys to submitmovies to the Italian Pavilion's My Expo Movie contest and possibly send your submissions our way too. Now someone has done so - and just in time for Vimeo to go back behind the GFW. Boo. Well, I suggest you either get a vpn and watch this anyhow.
Are these built-in-a-day pavilions China's future?
The Broad Pavilion, one of the 17 corporate pavilions at the Shanghai Expo, may not get nearly the amount of attention that any of the international pavilions command, but much more than them, it may represent the future of China.
Watch: Light Trail Ballet
For tonight's viewing pleasure, here's a video filmed by one of our favorites from the Shanghaiist Flickr pool, dbmboise. From his own description, he's using his Nikon's intervalometer, jpg's and Windows Live Movie Maker to create this hypnotic vid of night traffic on a Shanghai street. Beautiful!
Video: The UK Pavilion is gorgeous
Every day I wake up and find that Vimeo is here is a good day. Here's a video put up by the Shanghai Expo Timelapse Machine about the stunning The UK Pavilion, made all the more stunning by the music and thoughtfully curated scenes.
Video: Shanghai in a Minute
In order to commemorate the unblocking of Vimeo, here's a video from the site about Shanghai - see how you can see it now even if you don't have a VPN? Yay! Anyhow, it's a time lapse by Joe Nafis called Shanghai-ed | Shanghai In a Minute. Enjoy!
Watch: Silk Road Timelapse
Sublime piece of work by Abram Hodgens made with 26,000 images taken over two months travelling across Tibet, Xinjiang, Yunnan and Sichuan. This video will make you want to drop everything, pack your bags and go on a roadtrip:
5 most viewed Shanghaiist stories of 2009 PART II
You probably have already read through Part I here, which chronicled the top five most clicked on Shanghaiist stories from January to June. Now here's Part II: the top five stories you guys read for the rest of the year.
Timelapse: Miniature City Shanghai
Because we know you can't get enough of timelapse videos, here's another one by Shanghai newbie, Joe Nafis, who tells us that he's been in town for just a month and jobless. We're totally amazed that all this was possible with the humble Canon A540. Anyone out there wanna give this guy a job?
Timelapse: China's 60th National Day Parade
For those of you that missed yesterday's big party, here's an awesome 3.5 minute timelapse version by Dan Chung of The Guardian which is just absolutely sublime and splendiferous. Some have said this is the "only version of China's National Day Parade you need to watch". We agree (and take that, CCTV!).
Time lapses of Jinjiang Amusement Park
Ah Jinjiang Amusement Park, how we love thee. When you aren't amusing us with your silly Chinglish signs, you're wowing us with moments of genuine beauty. Case in point, check out these two short but awesome timelapse videos that we discovered in our flickr pool.
Awesome timelapse video of one man's 4,500km walk from Beijing to Urumqi
German national Christoph Rehage shaved his head in the fall of 2007, walked from Beijing to Urumqi on foot (yes, all 4,500 km of it!), taking pictures of himself wherever he went, and this awesome video is what he ended up with. Especially appropriate is his use of the Chinese song, Olive Tree 《橄榄树》with its haunting lyrics, "不要问我从哪里来" (Don't ask me where I'm from). We're already looking forward to the next video of his walk from Urumqi back to Germany -- if he ever gets down to it, that is. Check out the rest of his website The Longest Way.
Timelapse Shanghai: Racing towards 2008
Videos from Vision Rouge and lizandro01
Timelapse Shanghai: In the subway and on the highway
As you may have realised by now, timelapse clips can be pretty addictive. Here are two more clips, one taken in the subway and the other on the highway, right here in Shanghai. If you're ready, ladies and gentlemen, buckle your seat belts and come along with us. It's gonna be one helluva ride.

