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China's forgotten places and urban dystopias

  • Abandoned places in China / 中国废墟
    • Beijing / 北京
      • Post-industrial Beijing
      • Urban decay: waiting for construction
      • Urban decay: waiting for demolition/rehabilitation
    • Shanghai, Zhejiang, etc. / 上海,浙江省
      • Shanghai city / 上海市
      • Zhejiang province / 浙江省
    • Shanxi, Datong / 山西大同
    • Tianjin / 天津
    • The north-western parts of China / 中国西北部
    • The southern parts of China / 中国南部
      • Guangdong, Guangzhou / 广东广州
      • Guangdong, Shenzhen / 广东深圳
      • Guangdong, Zhuhai / 广东珠海
      • Sichuan, Chengdu / 四川成都
      • Yunnan, Xishuangbanna, Jinghong / 云南西双版纳景洪
  • Architecture and history / 建筑与历史
    • Demolition / 拆迁
    • Failed projects / 失败的城市规划项目
      • Abandoned unfinished constructions / 烂尾楼
      • New Towns
      • Pastiche architecture
    • Hidden historical heritage / 历史建筑
      • Beijing / 北京
      • Shanghai / 上海
      • Shanxi province / 山西省
  • Urban explorations outside China / 中国以外的城市探险
    • France / 法国
    • Hong Kong / 香港
  • Inspiring artists and art work / 艺术家和艺术作品
  • Research Project on Urban Ruins / 废墟研究计划
    • Research Network on Urban Ruins in Contemporary China / 当代中国城市废墟的研究网络

police

The Police Station / 警岗

Posted on 2017-10-30 by Jude

The good thing about living in Hong Kong is that disused facilities and derelict buildings can be well preserved, especially when one finds them hidden in the jungle. It was the case for this very small police station, abandoned since 2013. Everything around was peaceful and quiet, and I was lucky enough not to walk […]

Posted in Hong Kong / 香港, Urban explorations outside China / 中国以外的城市探险 Tagged police 2 Comments

« Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away »

Philip K. Dick, How to Build a Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later, 1978

Urban exploration in China: a fascinating escape

Have you ever wanted to travel without going too far? Looking for and finding lost places in a city is a challenge but usually worth the efforts. Entering abandoned places feels like stepping in another dimension of space and time: the urban picture one saw before is now distorted, and one accesses an alternate reality, standing there just as “true” as the “normal” one, but less visible, less accessible, less well-known... And that is the beauty of it, when the materiality of the place, its ecosystem, tells us its story without any intermediary. Some fear the danger or the dirtiness, but others can appreciate a true magic in the forbidden, forgotten, urban space.
In China, this is not a massive hobby. And yet, exploring abandoned or hidden places in Chinese cities is really stimulating: Western/Chinese style buildings from the beginning of the 20th century, socialist architecture of the 1950s, fast urbanization and gigantic ambitious planning projects turning out to be failures... I want to share some discoveries without putting the places at risk: please don't ask me for precise locations, the search is part of the fun anyway!

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  • Olympic Ruin: Beijing Beach Volleyball Court / 奥运遗产:北京沙滩排球场
  • International Workshop: Ruinscapes in Urban China / 中國城市廢墟空間
  • Call for Participation: Research Network on Contemporary Ruins in China
  • Jingjin New Town / 京津新城

Tags

abandoned village academic exchange amusement park banyan tree Chinese studies coal mine demolition dogs ecological island factory failed project ferris wheel film garden ghost house giraffe gorillas haunted house hiking hip-hop historical ruin hotel industrial heritage jungle medical facility mega-event movie set nature night exploration olympic ruin pastiche police pool railway research school snake sport facility sunset theater theme park transportation unfinished-abandoned building (烂尾楼) video clip winter exploration

China’s forgotten places and urban dystopias

https://www.facebook.com/chinasforgottenplacesurbandystopias/

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Websites about abandoned places in China and East Asia

  • "Phantom Shanghai", by Greg Girard
  • "Unborn cities", by Kai Caemmerer
  • Abandoned Kansai
  • Burbex
  • HK Urbex
  • Jordy Meow
  • LI Yang - 404 NOT FOUND
  • Shrinking cities in China by Sixth Tone
  • Synapticism
  • Tomboy Urbex
  • Xiao Yang ruin photography
  • Zeng Han's photography project on "hyper reality China"

Websites about abandoned places

  • Glauque-Land
  • Marchand & Meffre Photography
  • Misanthropologue - Explorer l'urbex

Chinese subcultures

  • A digital archive on alternative music in contemporary China
  • Beijing Silvermine / 北京银矿
  • Live Beijing Music
  • Genjing Records

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