The Best of China from an Aerial View

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.

Top contributor Haussmannvisuals created this memorable 60 second aerial tour of Guangzhou in southern China.  It's the capital of the province of the same name, the largest in the country by population and in many respects its economic dynamo.  It's also home to some of the world's tallest buildings.  In the video you'll see some epic footage of the 111 floor, 530 meter (about 1.7k ft.) CTC Financial Center (#6 in the world at year-end 2018), the Guangzhou IFC (439 meter, 1.45k ft.), and more.

Measured by the number of tall buildings, Hong Kong has the largest skyline in the world.  The city's skyscrapers are spread throughout the city - on Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon Peninsula, and along much of the shoreline of Victoria Harbor.  In this marvelous drone video by contributor Haussmanvisuals, you'll get a great aerial tour of the most vertical parts of the 430 square miles of the city.   This video was picked as a Finalist in the Cities category for the 2nd annual Drone Video Awards.

High above the karst peaks that line the Li River, contributor haussmannvisuals reveals the beauty of Yangshuo in Guilin, China.  The iconic topography of this county are often seen in calligraphic ink paintings but this drone footage takes the remarkable scenery to a whole new level.  Situated in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southeastern China, Guilin was a filming location for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith (2005); it "played the role" of  the Wookiee planet Kashyyyk.

Yunnan is a province in southwestern China, in the area of Asia where the Himalayan region transitions to Southeast Asia.  It sits at the crossroads of several nations, cultures, and religions.  This video, which was nominated for the 2017 Drone Video Awards in the "People" category, gives you an incredible tour of this mountainous region.  Using a combination of drone footage and ground footage, you will get an indelible impression of a magical land, which borders Tibet.

Shenzen is second largest city in the southern China province of Guangdong, the most populous province in the country.  Shenzen shares the Pearl River Delta with Hong Kong, Macau, and the provincial capital of Guangdong.  In this video, contributor Droneland flies over this incredible city.  The main focus of the video is the 115 story Ping An Financial Center, which rises just under 600 meters (a bit under 2.0k ft.), the second tallest building in China and #4 in the world when it was completed in 2017.

Although China is the world's most populous country, most of its 1.2 billion inhabitants live on or near the coast.  Parts of the vast interior of the country are much less densely populated.  One of these is the province of Ninxia, which sits in the north-central part of the country.  Contributor Mattcoq traveled to Ninxia with a DJI Phantom 3 drone, creating a spectacular aerial video of this land which features landscapes ranging from mountains to desert.   

China's Guangdong Province has been the epicenter of China's spectacular economic rise.  Situated in the southeastern part of the country, it's now home to the most people of any Chinese province, and the population swells by tens of millions each year due to migrant employees. It is closely connected to Hong Kong, which it effectively surrounds, and which has served to connect China to the outside world.  Droneland gives us an amazing aerial look at this dynamic province.

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.

China's Huangshan Mountains are a range of peaks of up to 1k meters (3.3k ft) in the Anhui province, which lies in the eastern part of the country.  The unusually shaped granite peaks of these mountains have caused this area to become one of China's major tourist destinations. Contributor Droneland flew a drone over these incredible mountains and created this stunning aerial video of the area, which lies in the Yangtze River heartland of what was once known as the Middle Kingdom.    

Xiamen is a thriving port city in China's Fujian province and is known as one of the 'coolest' travel destinations, due to it's modern infrastructure and creative arts scene.  Maybe that's how drone pilot Panvelvet became inspired to ask what this energetic cityscape would be like as the setting for the Mission Impossible series.  With it's high rishing Cycling Skyway, Amoy Bridge, and countless streets of eating and entertainment, we're convinced Xiamen would perform just fine in that capacity.

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.  

Hongcun is a town in the Anhui province of east central China.  Considered one of the cultural treasures of China, it has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Hongcun has become a favorite location for filming movies in China, notably Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, a 2000 film which received widespread international acclaim.  In this video, contributor Droneland gives us a bird's eye view of this iconic Chinese town.

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.

The region Inner Mongolia is confusingly named, as it suggests that it's part of the Central Asian republic of Mongolia.  In fact, Inner Mongolia is a semi-autonomous province of China.  The country of modern Mongolia is actually "Outer Mongolia", in reference to the fact that it's further away from the core of China.  In this video, contributor Kinjo gives us an aerial view of Inner Mongolia, which is 8x as populous as the republic.  

Xi'an is one of the oldest cities in China, and was one of the four so-called Ancient Capitals of China.  In modern times, it is known as the site of the Xi'an Incident of 1936, during the runup to World War II.  Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek was detained here and forced to adopt a policy of cooperation with the Chinese Communist Party to resist ongoing incursions by Japan.  The policy ultimately helped to prevent Japanese hegemony in China, albeit at tremendous cost in Chinese lives.

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.  

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.

Contributor Gareth Hayman created this stunning drone video of some of the best skyline views in China (including its Hong Kong territory).  The flying technique and framing, combined with the resolution quality of the shots make for one spot on video. Views of Hong Kong's Quarry Bay, Shanghai's World Financial Center, Canton Tower in Guangzhou, and dozens of other famous skyscrapers can be seen from a variety of angles in this brilliant piece. This piece was a Drone Video of the Week Nominee in 2019.

In this amazing aerial video by contributor Droneland, you'll get a tour-by-drone of China's great Pearl River Delta.  The estuary of China's third largest river is home to over a hundred million people and for decades has been one of the world's most important economic regions.  The area explored is that beyond (inland) from Hong Kong, which sits at the northern mouth of the river's mouth.  This is Guangdong Province, whose largest cities (Guangdong and Shenzen) are amongst the largest in the country.  

China's largest island (not including Taiwan, which is not under the country's control at present) is Hainan, which lies off the coast of the Guanxi Province.  It's the largest of a group of islands which comprise the Province of Hainan, which was part of the province of Guangdong until 1988.  The island's second largest city is Sanya, which lies at its southern tip.  In this drone video created by contributor Bunlee, you'll get a bird's eye view of Sanya, now a major beach tourist destination.  

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.    

Daocheng is an area of China's Sichuan province, in the southwestern part of the country.  It's in the Hengduan Mountains, a range which connects two of the main plateau areas of western China.  The area is part of western Sichuan, which is part of the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.  Given that this part of Sichuan borders Tibet to the west, the population here is mostly of  Tibetan ethnicity.   You can see this beautiful part of the country from a bird's eye perspective, compliments of contributor borje_xy.  

The Pearl River is the third of China's great rivers, on a par with the Yangtze and the Yellow River in its importance to the world's most populous country.  It arises from a complex system of tributaries that drain much of southern China and runs 2.4k km (1.5k mi.) to the Ghuanzhou province, forming a giant delta on the South China Sea.  In this video by Droneland, you'll get a bird's eye view of the mighty river as it runs through the Nansha area just south of the provincial capital Ghuangzhou City. 

Contributor Sjoerdbracke used a DJI Mavic Pro drone to create this spectacular bird's eye view of  Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in the Hunan province of central China.  The park is known for its unique rock pillar formations, which earned it a UNESCO World Heritage natural site designation.  China's first national park, it is now one of several in an area known as the Wulingyuan Scenic District.   The park was the primary shooting location for James Cameron's 2009 film Avatar.  

China features some of the world's most breathtaking landscapes.  In this video, you'll see some of the best drone footage of China on AirVuz.  The video features bird's eye views of some of the most well known sites of the Middle Kingdom, including the Great Wall, Beijing, Hong Kong, Zhangjiajie National Park, Shenzhen, and so much more! After watching this compilation of aerial videos, history and travel information you’ll be saying lets visit the ‘Land Of The Red Dragon’.