Drone Videos of Northeastern China

Top contributor Panvelvet used the Chinese city of Shanghai as the backdrop for this epic drone film, shot over a period of 24 hours.  Filmed in a fully controlled environment, the video shows an actor standing atop several of the more prominent towers in this megalopolis, which as of the end of 2018 had over 150 buildings of at least 150 meters (about 480 ft.) in height, fourth amongst the world's cities.  This video was a 2nd Annual Drone Video Awards Winner in the Originality category.

The Great Wall is perhaps the most widely recognized site in China and one of the most well known in the world.  The wall, which was built over centuries to protect the Chinese heartland from invasion over the Central Asian plains, spans a total of 21k km (13k mi).  Best accessible from the Chinese capital Beijing, the wall is a monument to the human will.  Contributor Flyusanywhere used a DJI Phantom 4 drone to create this magnificent aerial mini tour of the Great Wild Wall.

China's Yangtze River is the longest in Asia and third longest in the world.  Rising in the highlands of Tibet, it runs over 6.3k km (just under 4k mi.) to discharge into the East China Sea at the great city of Shanghai, the world's busiest port.  More than any individual city, this mighty river is the very heart of China.  In this video, contributor Mamitagadventures flies a DJI Mavic Pro drone over the great waterway, giving us bird's eye views of Shibaozhai Pagoda Temple, Chongquing, Yichang, and more.

Contributor DavidLee created this magnificent drone video of the great Chinese city of Nanjing, also known as Nanking, home of one of China's tallest skyscrapers.  Situated on the Yangtze River, it's one of the most important historical and cultural cities in China, and was the site of the infamous Rape of Nanjing in the early stages of World War II.  Since 2010, the city has also been home to the 66 story Greenland Center-Zifeng Tower, which stands at 450 meters (just under 1.5k ft.) and dominates its skyline.  

Contributor and drone pilot borje_zy brings us this amazing aerial tour of Tianjin, China's fourth largest city by population.  The northeasternmost of China's major cities, Tianjin is also the principal port serving the capital city Beijing which is only a 90 minute drive away.  Founded in the 15th century, Tianjin also has great cultural and historical importance, particularly during the Boxer Rebellion at the turn of the 20th century which inaugurated a long period of civil unrest in China.

China's capital Beijing is one of the world's few large cities not located on a coast or major river.  Rather, the great city once known as Peking owes its existence to being at the north end of the North China Plain.  Surrounded on all other sides by mountains, Peking guarded the approaches from the Eurasian steppe into what is in effect the heart of China on the great alluvial plain.  Contributor borje_xy created this amazing drone videos of the mountains surrounding the capital city.

Harbin is a medium sized city in northeastern China, and the capital of the Heilongjiang province.  Harbin's founding and growth were closely associated with the East China Railway, the main railway which ran across Manchuria and which was built by Imperial Russia via concessions.  In this video you'll get an aerial glimpse of this important provincial capital, whose cityscape has been transformed by the magnificent Opera House which you'll see as the first aerial shot.  

Contributor and FPV pilot Gespar used a racing drone to capture China's answer to the iconic "Hollywood" sign in the hills over Los Angeles.  The city is Qingdao (Tsingtao), and it's one of the biggest cities in northeastern China.  Better known for its beer, it's now home to a multi-billion dollar film production studio.  Which is why the sign says (translated from Mandarin) is "Movie Metropolis of the East".  This video was shot from a racing drone being flown first person view ("FPV") with video goggles.  

Ningbo is one of the great cities of the Yangtze River Delta.  Situated in the province of Zhejiang, it occupies the southern part of the great estuary.  It's one of the oldest cities in the country, with settlements dating to nearly 5,000 BC.  Carved by numerous canals, the city's port on the East China Sea is amongst the world's busiest, rivaling that of Shanghai.  In this video, you'll be able to see this ancient city from a bird's eye perspective, compliments of contributor and drone pilot Dankstarr.    

Dalian is the northeasternmost of China's major cities.  It's the largest city in the province of Liaoning, the most populous of northeastern China.  It lies at the tip of the Shandong Peninsula, a protrusion into the Yellow Sea.  Originally founded by the Russian Empire, the area was ceded to Japan following the Russo Japanese War of 1904-5 and returned to China by the USSR following World War II.  In this drone video by contributor tk.shinoy, you can see this important coastal city from a bird's eye perspective.   

While the Yangtze River Delta in eastern China is best known for Shanghai, there are a number of other large cities on the estuary of the country's longest (and most important) river.  One of these cities is Changshu.  It's part of the Jiangshu province, which covers much of the delta outside of Shanghai (which is its own provincial-level administrative unit).  In this drone video by Mattcoq, you'll get a drone's eye view of the city's Fangta Tower Park, which was built around the Songjiang Square Pagoda.

In this amazing drone video by borje_xy, you'll get a marvelous drone's eye view of a spot in Northeastern China which shows the contrast between the "Old" and "New" China.  It's shot along a portion of the Great Wall, most of which was built during the Ming Dynasty which lasted from the mid-14th to the mid-17th centuries.  In the shadow of this magnificent structure, you'll see the Beijing S2 train line, which whisks passengers in and out of nearby Beijing at speeds of up to 160 km per hour (about 100 mph).  

Contributor Chengqi created this fascinating drone video of a a major city in Northeastern China.  It's called Nantong, and it is situated in the northern part of the great Yangtze River Delta in the province of Jiangsu.  The city features a deepwater port and a resilient textile manufacturing industry.  Nantong was considered to be amongst the very first Chinese cities to industrialize. Amazingly, despite a built-up population of over 7 million, it's not even one of the 20 largest cities in China.  

Check out this amazing drone video of an island in one of China's largest lakes, compliments of top contributor Mattcoq.  Xishan Island is located in Lake Tai (sometimes called Lake Taihu), which is located on the border of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang, near the base of the Yangtze River Delta.  It's the third largest lake in China by land area, although it's extremely shallow - its average depth is just 2 meters (about 6.5 ft.).  Xishan is the largest island in the lake.  

FPV racing drones have opened up new ways of looking at the world, and that includes our tallest skyscrapers.  In this video, contributor and FPV pilot Radikal_FPV takes on the world's seventh tallest building (tied) as of year-end 2018.  It's the Tianjin CTF Financial Center, which rises over half a kilometer (530 meters, a bit over 1.7k ft.) into the sky above the great city of Tianjin in northeastern China.  The building, which was under construction at the time, was completed in 2018.

Following a multi-decade boom, Shanghai (China's largest city) has one of the world's most impressive skylines.  With several skyscrapers topping 300m (1k ft), this city on the Yangtze River Delta has regained its once considerable role as a world city.  In this drone video, AirVuz contributor Mattcoq flies his DJI Phantom 4 Professional over China's largest city, including the Bund, the massive highways leading into the city center, and the Huangpu River, which divides the western side of the city from Pudong.

Top contributor Ryzone made the most of a layover in Beijing China to create this amazing travel video which incorporates both ground camera and drone footage.  It features some awesome footage of the Great Wall, the ancient fortification system, accessible via a short drive from Beijing, which was built to protect China from invasions off of the Eurasian Steppes.  He was also able to get some footage of some other activities, such as biking on a very-frozen lake.  

Content creator and drone pilot npmullins used the occasion of a business trip to Tianjin to create this fascinating video of this important city in Northeastern China.  Situated a short distance southeast of the national capital city Beijing on the Bohai Sea, Tianjin is one of nine large Chinese cities that are administered directly by the Federal government.  Depending on definitions, it has a metropolitan population of between 12-15 million, making it one of the largest 5-6 cities in the country.