Lofty views of cityscapes

A night view of Shanghai by JT Singh and Rob Whitworth, shot while producing their video This is Shanghai. Photos Provided to China Daily

My China Dream | JT Singh

Urban explorer and identity expert JT Singh has made a two-minute visual record of Shanghai that he says will imprint images of the city in minds across the globe. Zhou Wenting reports in Shanghai.

Canadian JT Singh has explored hundreds of cities across the globe in a bid to understand the fiercely competitive and rapidly urbanizing world in which we live.

As an urban explorer and identity expert, he manages the Thrilling Cities Group, a multi-disciplinary team of experts that work with cities to leverage their identities to attract tourism, talent and investment. Their previous clients include such major global cities as London, Rio de Janeiro, Dubai and Kuala Lumpur.

Special: City Living

"My job is to help cities become more than just a dot on the map," says Singh, who has only been in China since January but has already explored more than 20 Chinese cities. His first encounter with China took place last year in Shanghai while participating in a two-day conference about cities.

"I fell in love with Shanghai. I love its balance of old streets and modernization, and also many other small things like seeing grandparents playing with their grandchildren in the streets," the 28-year-old says.

In April, Thrilling Cities began a new project of shooting a pioneering time-lapse film, aimed at making Shanghai more relevant to the global conversation.

Singh brought in his British colleague Rob Whitworth, a creative time-lapse photographer, to help him.

In early June, the duo finished and delivered a two-minute video This is Shanghai, after climbing hundreds of rooftops to capture the city from different views, including its iconic skyline, and a visual roller-coaster ride from the Bund to the ancient alleyways.