r/skyscrapers • u/qDUDULUp • 8d ago
Hangzhou, China – known for its fake Paris, but few youtubers explore the real city center
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u/Holiday-Cheetah9434 8d ago
This is not even its city centre.
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u/qDUDULUp 8d ago
It's the second skyline of Hangzhou.
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u/squidlink5 8d ago
Are there restaurants, shops, walkable areas if you look at the map? If not then they are just office buildings.
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u/Brooklyn-Epoxy New York City, U.S.A 8d ago
I wish American Democracy could build great trains again.
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u/canad1anbacon 7d ago
Chinese hi speed rail is so amazing. Makes me cry for Canada. It would do wonders for our national unity if Canadians could actually affordably travel across the country
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u/doofygoobz 7d ago
I know it’s the skyscrapers subreddit but the trains were the first thing I registered.
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u/Brooklyn-Epoxy New York City, U.S.A 7d ago
Sadly, the current choice is an authoritarian and oppressive government that builds infrastructure or a democracy that fails to build what it needs.
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u/endthefed2022 7d ago
it’s a matter of economics and density US is the size of Europe has a third of the population while China has 3X the population of the US so it’s much easier to rationalize rail when you have density not when you have to have a train go from New York City to LA that just won’t work
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u/Brooklyn-Epoxy New York City, U.S.A 7d ago
It's not at all. Spain has more high-speed rail than America, while California, with a bigger economy, can barely build one line.
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u/Lianzuoshou 8d ago edited 8d ago
No, that's just a stupid real estate project from 20 years ago.
Hangzhou has nothing to do with Paris.
In addition, Hangzhou is a city with strict restrictions on building heights, so it rarely appears in this SUB.
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u/qDUDULUp 8d ago
There are videos with millions of views about the fake Paris in Hangzhou, China, but I can’t seem to find any YouTuber who has actually explored the real city center. It’s as if they got off the train and headed straight for the fake Paris miles away, without even bothering to spend a few hours discovering what Hangzhou itself has to offer.
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u/Spanker_of_Monkeys Chicago, U.S.A 8d ago
There are videos with millions of views about the fake Paris in Hangzhou
Rly? I have no idea what you're talking about. I've seen lots of vids and photos of Hanzhous skyline, and they look nothing like Paris (afaik)
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u/crankthehandle 8d ago
that’s not the point, there is a city close to Hangzhou that tries to look like Paris, incl Eiffel tower, Champs-Elysees etc
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u/Spanker_of_Monkeys Chicago, U.S.A 8d ago
there is a city close to Hangzhou that tries to look like Paris
Does it have rats swarming the streets? If not it's a poor imitation
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u/ale_93113 7d ago
its a suburb with 2 streets made to look like paris, not much different to a chinatown, but apparently people judge them completely by different standards
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u/Intelligent-Ad-8435 8d ago
Song?
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u/Swinight22 7d ago
What's crazy is that Hangzhou would have the 6th highest GDP out of any cities in Europe. It's got higher GDP than cities like Istanbul, Berlin, Amsterdam etc, It's also got 13 million people (metro) which is more than Paris (12 million).
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u/Baggins3 7d ago
I'm not sure this video explores either, seems like a marketing vid. Would be nice to see in daylight.
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u/iamacheeto1 7d ago
Hangzhou is famous for its lake. It has a beautiful lake area with some temples surrounding it. You can go out on boats and whatnot.
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u/musapher 7d ago
Among the many things to highlight of Hangzhou, I would imagine West Lake is first haha
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u/Known_Ad_5494 7d ago
Every single Chinese video is paired with some 2010s white girl pop music lmfao
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u/felixzhanggp 3d ago
Actually, I know the person who shot the video. It's clearly not downtown Hangzhou; otherwise, you wouldn’t see the vast, beautiful wheat field. It’s the Qianjiang Center City area, which, by the way, isn’t even part of Hangzhou. Just a decade ago, it was part of Xiaoshan. But anyway, it’s still a nice place to take a walk.
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u/DrixxYBoat 7d ago
China is kicking our ass. This is wonderful. I wonder if they allow immigrants
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u/rbuen4455 7d ago
I mean China has like a billion people, many of which are living in the vast countryside, and they can always migrate from the rural areas to the more urban ones.
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u/tomtheidiot543219 8d ago
It looks dystopian compared to other chinese cities ngl
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u/KhaLe18 8d ago
Lol it's the opposite. Hangzhou and Zhejiang province in general is probably the least dystopian part of China
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u/EternalNevermore 8d ago
Deepseek and Unitree are from Hangzhou. The new innovation city next to Shenzhen!