phanero ([personal profile] phanero) wrote2021-05-02 12:56 pm

Review: Aerial China Season 1 (航拍中國 第一季) (2017)

I didn't expect to finish this season today, but I did. This season of Aerial China was extremely bingeable.

I didn't expect anything from this series but it took me by surprise by how varied and fast-paced it was. Admittedly, I mostly watched this series while doing other things, but I think that if I was just sitting down and watching this, I still would've found it enjoyable.

I'd definitely enjoy it for people who are interested in China and Chinese culture as a whole.



Format

Each episode of this season focused on a particular province. Otherwise, each episode did not follow a particular theme. The episode would move from the setting to setting with seemingly no connection but it didn't bother me at all.

Production

As I mentioned, this show surprised me by how fast-paced it was. The narrator was giving the audience a lot of information, and the show never really spent time just suspended in time to just pause on a particular shot. As soon as the narrator was finished speaking, the camera would pan to something else, but I never felt rushed. Again, I was watching while doing other things so I definitely missed a lot, but if I was sitting down and watching this show, I would've absorbed a lot of information and looked at a lot of nice shots.

Episodes

I liked the variety in this show. I was expecting a lot of nature shots, which there were, including both natural landscapes and animal sightings. But there were also a lot of shots of man-made things, whether it was the big cities, small traditional towns, etc. This is why I would recommend this show for people who are interested in Chinese culture in general, and not just those interested in nature.

Overall

Like i said, this series took me by surprise. I think that it was probably created for the average viewer in mind, and assumed that the viewer would be impatient if an episode lingered for too long on a particular topic.

I will be checking out seasons 2 and 3 of Aerial China.


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