Drone operator spells out unique perspective

Amateur photographer utilizes buildings to capture A to Z from the top down, Zhou Wenting reports.

Visitors from home and abroad may be familiar with three iconic skyscrapers in Shanghai — the 127-story Shanghai Tower, China's tallest building, the 101-story Shanghai World Financial Center, and the 88-story Shanghai Jinmao Tower.

The buildings' architects say that the rounded facade of Shanghai Tower embodies the future while the other two represent the city's present and past.

But have you ever wondered what the buildings look like from the top down? Shu Bin, an amateur photographer from Shanghai knows the answer — the three super skyscrapers resemble the letters D, I and X.

The 37-year-old Shanghai native, with impaired hearing, discovered this while looking for the 26 alphabet letters from the rooftops of the city's buildings with his drone from January to March.

In a 32-second video clip Shu produced, 26 of the city's buildings show the letters A to Z when viewed from the top down. The video was recently released by the official video account of the Shanghai Municipal Government, gaining more than 8,000 likes instantly.

Internet users describe the video as "postmodern" and "revealing the magic of Shanghai". The city is widely dubbed "a city of magic" and "unlocking the hidden romance of the city", and many left messages speculating about where these buildings are.

Shu tells China Daily via a sign language translator that the idea of taking the photos came to him after he collected the numbers one to nine from the rooftops of buildings in September 2022. He says the numbers did not take too much effort and the buildings were all located in Songjiang district on the outskirts of the city's southwest.

"I became fascinated with the drone in 2019 and found that the shapes of some roofs resemble familiar symbols through its camera. I wanted to collect all 26 letters of the alphabet. The photography procedure allowed me to dive deeper and more broadly throughout my hometown," says Shu, a licensed drone operator.

"This way, I could also share with people a unique perspective of the city, where dramatic changes have taken place over the decades. Also, people can see another layer of the city that is hard to imagine when standing on the ground," he says.

Shu's first step was to check online platforms to find buildings that look similar to letters. "If there were more than one representing the same letter, I'd choose the one with more colors, a better shape and more significance to the city," he says.

For example, many buildings show the letter C. He chose the swimming pool of the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center for its bright color and unique style, and because it is a famous public facility.

Shooting at one spot usually lasted nearly an hour, as he needed to control the drone in the right direction, avoid light reflections, wait for clouds to move away, and sometimes wait until the drone had better reception.

The most difficult picture to capture was the letter D, which is the 127-story, 632-meter-tall Shanghai Tower, as his drone can only fly to a maximum of 500 meters from the starting point.

"After several attempts, I found a high spot on the rooftop of a high-rise on the North Bund, about 500 meters tall and across the Huangpu River from Shanghai Tower in Pudong New Area. I stood on top of the high-rise and let my drone fly across the river to capture the photo," says Shu, adding that the drone needed to make a one-way trip of around one kilometer.

"As the building is a Shanghai landmark, I never thought to search for a substitute, let alone looking for a replacement outside the city," he says.