u/LoopAmbience

People always debate whether Tokyo, Dubai, or Singapore is the most futuristic city on Earth, but after walking through Shanghai, I think we're missing the real answer.

Walking here messes with your sense of time. You start at the Bund waterfront, staring at a skyline that looks straight out of a sci-fi movie. But turn a corner, and you're squeezing through the artistic alleyways of Tianzifang or smelling incense at the City God Temple. It's wild. You have the world's largest Starbucks Roastery sitting near historic French Concession streets, and ancient classical gardens like Yuyuan surviving right next to the chaotic Nanjing Road shopping street.

Then there's the architecture. You eventually hit the 1000 Trees building, and it honestly looks like a massive cyberpunk mountain dropped into the middle of the city. And just when you think Shanghai is all neon and glass, you take a metro ride to Zhujiajiao, an ancient water town with canals and stone bridges—the "Venice of Shanghai"—feeling centuries away from the downtown skyscrapers.

I filmed the whole walk in 4K just capturing the ambient sounds of the city—no talking, no music. It’s just the raw noise of Shanghai, from the crazy pedestrian streets to the quiet M50 art district.

Honestly, does Shanghai take the crown for the most futuristic city, or is it just the best at hiding its ancient past in plain sight? Would love to hear what you guys think.

Filmed Chaoyang Square Night Market in Nanning, Guangxi, and it's easily one of the most underrated street food scenes I've walked in China so far. This is the kind of place that barely shows up in China travel content — everyone talks about Chengdu or Xi'an for street food, but Nanning's night market culture is just as dense, just way less documented internationally.

The walk starts at Minsheng Square's Changyou Pavilion, then into Yongzhou Ancient City before hitting Chaoyang Square itself — grilled skewers, seafood, noodles, dumplings, and regional Guangxi specialties you won't find anywhere else in China, all under the neon glow of one of Nanning's busiest pedestrian districts.

Has anyone here actually made it to Nanning, or does Guangxi always get skipped in favor of Guangdong and Sichuan when people plan a China food trip?

Quick details:

• Location: Nanning, Guangxi, China — Minsheng Square, Yongzhou Ancient City, and Chaoyang Square Night Market
• Time of day / weather: Filmed after dark, timed to the night market's peak evening activity

Spent 7+ hours walking through the six most affluent districts in Lima, Peru, and it's a genuinely wild range: from Barranco's bohemian cliffside boulevards and the Bridge of Sighs, to Miraflores' Larcomar boardwalk sitting right on the Pacific cliffs, to San Isidro — Lima's financial and diplomatic core — where the Lima Golf Club and El Olivar Park sit surrounded by high-rise apartments and embassy row.

Then it keeps going: San Borja's La Rambla, Surco's Caminos del Inca and Jockey Plaza (one of the biggest malls in South America), and finally La Molina, where the walk ends among sprawling private mansions around La Molina Lagoon.

What struck me filming this: compared to "rich neighborhoods" content from the US or Europe, Lima's version is a lot more walkable, mixed-use, and honestly modest in places — no gated mega-mansions dominating the skyline, more upscale apartment towers and quiet residential streets next to shopping centers and embassies.

For people who've traveled or lived in South America — does Lima's version of "wealthy districts" match what you've seen in other capitals like Bogotá, Santiago, or Mexico City? And if you're actually from Barranco, Miraflores, San Isidro, San Borja, Surco, or La Molina — did I get it right?

Quick details:

• Location: Lima, Peru — Barranco, Miraflores, San Isidro, San Borja, Santiago de Surco, and La Molina
• Time of day / weather: Filmed across a full day route, covering both daytime commercial areas and evening residential streets
• Commentary: None — spatial audio and ambient city sound only, no narration or music
• Distinctive: At 7+ hours, this is the longest single walking route filmed to date, connecting six separate upscale districts into one continuous tour — including a visit past the U.S. Embassy and Jockey Plaza, one of South America's largest malls

Filmed all of July 28th in Lima, Peru's capital, for Fiestas Patrias — and the range in one single day was incredible. Started downtown at Plaza San Martín and Jirón de la Unión, then into Plaza Mayor with the Lima Cathedral, the Government Palace, and the Archbishop's Palace, all decked out for Independence Day. From there straight to Barranco's bohemian streets (Puente de los Suspiros, Bajada de Baños), then Miraflores' Malecón and Kennedy Park overlooking the Pacific.

But the real closer was Surco: a full Creole show at Dpaso Hacienda with coastal, jungle, and highland folk dances back to back — Marinera, Diablada, Alcatraz — ending with the Peruvian Paso horse, which most people outside Peru have genuinely never heard of. It's a horse breed bred specifically for a smooth lateral gait, and watching a five-time national champion horse perform live is unlike anything else I've filmed.

For anyone who's never been to Peru — did you know about the Paso horse tradition before, or is this the first time you're seeing it? And for Peruvians here, what's your favorite July 28th tradition?

Quick details:

• Location: Lima, Peru — Historic Center (Plaza Mayor, Plaza San Martín), Barranco, Miraflores, and Surco (Dpaso Hacienda)
• Time of day / weather: Filmed across a full day, from morning downtown through to evening folk performances in Surco
• Distinctive: The only walk that goes from civic Independence Day atmosphere in the historic center to a live Peruvian Paso horse show — a national tradition most international audiences have never seen

Just walked Hong Kong after dark for over an hour and a half, and the contrast between the two halves of the city is wild. You start in Sham Shui Po and Apliu Street's flea market cluttered stalls, secondhand electronics, real local life with zero polish then Mong Kok hits with the Ladies' Market and dense neon signage stacked over narrow streets, which honestly feels more like "classic Hong Kong" than anything on the harbor.

Then it flips completely: Temple Street Night Market for food stalls and fortune tellers, Kowloon Park as a quiet green break in the middle of it all, and finally the Avenue of Stars along Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade, where the entire Victoria Harbour skyline lights up across the water skyscrapers, the light show, all of it before ending at K11 MUSEA's more polished, modern retail energy.

Genuinely curious for people who've spent real time in Hong Kong, does the harbor skyline still hit the hardest at night, or do the market streets in Sham Shui Po/Mong Kok win for you?

• Location: Hong Kong Sham Shui Po, Apliu Street, Mong Kok, Ladies' Market, Temple Street Night Market, Kowloon Park, Avenue of Stars, Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade, K11 MUSEA
• Time of day / weather: Filmed entirely after dark, timed around Victoria Harbour's nightly skyline light show
• Distinctive: The walk moves from Hong Kong's rawest, most local night markets straight into its most famous skyline view, all in one continuous route

I just walked through Macau for over 4 hours straight from the mega-resorts of Cotai Strip to the colonial ruins of old Macau and the "Vegas of Asia" label feels almost too small for what's actually there. Vegas doesn't have 400-year-old Portuguese cathedrals two metro stops away from a full-scale Venetian canal with gondolas indoors.

The tour starts in Taipa Village, then hits the Cotai Strip proper: Galaxy Macau, The Venetian Macao, The Londoner, and The Parisian each one a themed mega-resort with its own skyline, casino floor, and shopping mall, and honestly walking between them feels more like teleporting between countries than crossing a strip.

Then it flips completely once you cross into the Macau Peninsula: Rua da Felicidade, Senado Square, the Ruins of St. Paul's, and Monte Fort this is the UNESCO-listed, Portuguese-colonial side of Macau that most casino-focused trips skip entirely. And then back into neon with Grand Lisboa, Wynn Macau, StarWorld, and MGM lighting up the night.

Has anyone else noticed how Macau barely gets talked about compared to Vegas or Macau's own neighbor Hong Kong, despite having way more gambling revenue than the Vegas Strip?

Quick details:

• Location: Macau, China covering Taipa Village, Cotai Strip (Galaxy, Venetian, Londoner, Parisian), and the historic Macau Peninsula (Senado Square, Ruins of St. Paul's, Grand Lisboa, Wynn, MGM)
• Time of day / weather: Filmed across daytime through to full night, capturing both the daylight heritage streets and the neon-lit casino skyline after dark
• Distinctive: The walk crosses two completely different Macaus in one route Portuguese colonial heritage streets and UNESCO ruins on one side, Vegas-scale integrated resorts on the other, connected by a single walk

I just finished editing a full walking tour of Guangzhou, China, and honestly the sheer range of the city surprised me even after having filmed a dozen cities across China already. You go from Lingnan-style pedestrian streets and century-old shophouses in Shangxiajiu, to colonial-era architecture on Shamian Island, to a Gothic Catholic cathedral (Shishi Sacred Heart), and then straight into a futuristic skyline with the Canton Tower and Haixin Bridge lit up over the Pearl River at night — all in the same afternoon of walking.

Some spots I didn't expect to love as much as I did: Yongqingfang, a beautifully restored historic quarter that mixes old Lingnan buildings with quiet cafes and courtyards, and Yanjiang West Road along the Pearl River, which has some of the best riverside promenade views in southern China. Beijing Road Pedestrian Street is also worth it just for how it layers 2,000 years of history — there's literally an excavated section of ancient road preserved under glass in the middle of the shopping street.

Anyone here been to Guangzhou, or is it always overshadowed by Shenzhen and Hong Kong when people plan a South China trip?

Quick details:

• Location: Guangzhou, Guangdong, China — covering Shangxiajiu, Yongqingfang, Shamian Island, Pearl River, Beijing Road, and Canton Tower
• Time of day / weather: Filmed across a full day, from afternoon light through to Canton Tower's night skyline
• Commentary: None — pure ambient city sound, no narration or music, so it plays like a slow TV walk
• Distinctive: The route crosses 2,000+ years of history in one walk, from an excavated ancient road under glass on Beijing Road to Guangzhou's ultra-modern riverside skyline at night

I've filmed walking tours across dozens of cities in Asia and Latin America, and Seven-Star Crags Qixingyan in Zhaoqing, Guangdong caught me off guard. No crowds, no chains of souvenir shops just limestone karst peaks rising straight out of still lakes, stone bridges connecting the islets, cave temples carved into the rock, and quiet walking paths that make the whole park feel more like a Song dynasty painting than a modern tourist attraction.

Zhaoqing rarely comes up when people plan a China itinerary ,everyone goes straight to Guilin for karst scenery, but Qixingyan might honestly be one of the more underrated karst landscapes in the country and it's a lot more accessible if you're already routing through Guangdong or Hong Kong.

I recorded the full walk in 4K with pure ambient sound, no narration, no music ; so it plays almost like a slow TV experience of what it actually feels like to walk through the Seven-Star Crags Scenic Area at ground level.

Has anyone here actually been to Zhaoqing, or is Guilin still the default answer whenever karst scenery comes up?