Photography Tutorial · 2019-04-22
Can You Capture the Starry Sky in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou? Let's Improve China's Urban Stargazing Guide Together!
Thomas Chu Photo
Today is Earth Day. How long has it been since you paid attention to the environment around you? And how long since you last saw the starry sky?
The Weibo topic #510100公里# is a public-interest photography campaign jointly initiated by @叶梓颐-巡天者, @王源宗Bboy, and @Thomas看看世界.
We hope to prove with photos that even within 100 kilometers, 10 kilometers, or even 5 kilometers of a big city, you can still see and photograph stars.
Buladun Town, Miyun District
About 80 km from downtown Beijing
Photographer: Pix晓鹏
Life is not only about 996 overtime work; even on city nights, the starry sky has always been with us, above our heads.
I hope none of us forgets the beauty around us because of our busy work.
Look up - the starry sky is right there!
Tsinghua University Campus
Beijing 4th Ring Road
Photographer: 于海童
Below are stargazing spots around Chinese cities contributed by netizens. Be sure to share and save them!
If you have starry-sky photos taken near a city, or recommended stargazing spots, feel free to join the discussion under the Weibo topic #510100公里#.
Beijing
Beijing has strong night lighting; you can generally see quite a few stars in the urban area, but seeing the center of the Milky Way is still difficult.
For shooting in the urban area, we can use the long-exposure function on phones and cameras to capture beautiful star trails.
As I introduced in the tutorial "How to Shoot and Post-Process Star Trails" (《星轨应该如何拍摄和后期》), star trails should not be too dense; the sparse urban starry sky is actually well suited for shooting star trails.
The Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City
City center of Beijing
Photographer: 叶梓颐
Corner Tower of the Forbidden City
City center of Beijing
Photographer: lifelens
Baita Temple (White Pagoda Temple)
City center of Beijing
Photographer: richard波
Olympic Sports Center
City center of Beijing
Photographer: Mr_fun_
Weiming Lake, Peking University
15 km from the Beijing urban area
Photographer: 未名笑笑生
And farther from the urban area, generally in the mountains and countryside beyond 100 kilometers, you can see a very clear Milky Way. Of course, remember to pick a night with no moon or a small moon to go stargazing!
Dongling Mountain
About 70 km from downtown Beijing
Photographer: 阿细-TSE
Yanqing
About 70 km from downtown Beijing
Photographer: Haunted_Wang
Miyun Observatory
About 80 km from downtown Beijing
Photographer: 阿啵慈德惡佛哥
Zhongshan Village, Da'anshan Township, Fangshan District
About 100 km from downtown Beijing
Photographer: 闻新者
Hongjing Road
About 100 km from downtown Beijing
Photographer: 鹿双的鹿
Jinshanling Great Wall
About 150 km from downtown Beijing
Photographer: CY89photo
Shanghai
For Shanghai, you can still see brighter stars in the urban area and shoot star trails.
However, if you want to see a sky full of stars, Nanhui seems to be a popular choice. Everyone is welcome to comment with more stargazing spots near Shanghai.
Lujiazui
Central Shanghai
Photographer: evan的家
Rooftop of the office building
About 8 km from downtown Shanghai
Photographer: 陆虎同学
Songjiang District
About 30 km from downtown Shanghai
Photographer: Jessie是一只猫
Nanhuizui Sea-Viewing Park
About 70 km from the Shanghai urban area
Photographer: 丶__TeD不是TED
Nanhuizui Sea-Viewing Park
About 70 km from the Shanghai urban area
Photographer: 无聊的光之翼
Seaside at Nanhui Lingang
About 80 km from the Shanghai urban area
Photographer: InNovaaaaaaaTioN
Tianhuangping Jiangnan Tianchi (Sky Lake)
About 187 km from the Shanghai urban area
Photographer: 丶__TeD不是TED
Other Cities
Zhangshiyan
About 100 km from downtown Shijiazhuang
Photographer: 凉凉aLiang
Jingyuetan (Jingyue Lake)
15 km from downtown Changchun
Photographer: 星陨如雨的微博
Xingxingshao Scenic Area, Yongji County
70 km from Changchun
Photographer: Photographer舒元
Shenzhen Observatory
About 60 km from the Shenzhen urban area
Photographer: 遠飛-WU
Guangdong University of Finance
Guangzhou urban area
Photographer: -JionG呀
Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics
About 20 km from downtown Hangzhou
Photographer: confidence飞腾
In the countryside
55 km from Hangzhou
Photographer: 奔跑的龟斯
Tianhuangping Jiangnan Tianchi (Sky Lake)
About 60 km from the Hangzhou urban area
Photographer: 猫知道thecatknows
Qianniugang, Daming Mountain
150 km from the Hangzhou urban area
Photographer: 吃夜宵
Qianniugang, Daming Mountain
150 km from the Hangzhou urban area
Photographer: Leesin_290
Chongqing urban area
Photographer: Jeff的星空之旅
Chang'an Campus, Northwestern Polytechnical University
40 km from downtown Xi'an
Photographer: SteveXyh
Watershed ridge of the Qinling Mountains
40 km from the Xi'an urban area
Photographer: 我英文名就是Tom
By the sea
50 km from Zhoushan
Photographer: 寻常的日与夜
Xilai Ancient Town
80 km from Chengdu
Photographer: 欣洋wen
Shenmulei, Ya'an
150 km from Chengdu
Photographer: 姜饼人了解下
40 km from Zhengzhou
Photographer: 文俊o8
Limujiang, Wuhan suburbs
39.6 km from Wuhan
Photographer: 星北之羽
Tongshan County, Xianning City
100 km from Wuhan
Photographer: 李航_Antarctic
Southern Wudang (31.088398°, 115.785281°, elevation 1064.54)
150 km from downtown Wuhan
Photographer: LONGSHU
Tiangang Town
45 km from the Jilin urban area
Photographer: 4-好大一颗志
Changqing District
30 km from the Jinan urban area
Photographer: 爱偷米的蓝皮鼠
Life is not only about the immediate struggles, but also about poetry and the distant places. But what many overlook is that poetry is not only in the distance - it is also right beside us. For example, look up:
The starry sky!
We are collecting more Chinese urban star-photography spots on Weibo.
If you have great starry-sky photos or urban stargazing spots, feel free to submit them to the Weibo topic #510100公里#.
Or when posting on Weibo, @ any one of: 叶梓颐-巡天者, 王源宗Bboy, Thomas看看世界.
We look forward to your starry-sky photos!