6AM soundscape at Yili Park

24th January, 2024

This is a small town park in Hongqiao business district that is popular amongst locals and is used as a key shortcut for commuters on their way to work by metro. Its triangular shape is derived from the direction of three roads and it has an entry on each side of the three sides. City parks are not a big feature of Shanghai. The city has many amazing features and landscaped areas but there are not many grand city parks. With that said, there are currently very ambitious efforts to enhance city greenery and parks across the city, and the part in this video was recently renovated along with many others. As a crowded car-based mega-city, Shanghai is very noisy; there is a constant background drone that you can't escape from at most hours of the day and night. That makes getting up super early to experience relatively empty streets and spaces is a real novelty and joy. The beauty of many urban parks in Shanghai, including this one, is that they are accessible 24/7 with pathways lit sufficiently during the night time. As one of the safest cities in the world, there is never any anti-social behavior or fear of getting mugged. So with all this in mind, I found myself feeling very fortunate to experience the 6AM soundscape of of Yili Park and I captured part of it on my phone. The intensity of the birds (and frogs) making their morning pre-dawn hawks, squeaks and songs was incredible, especially in this part of the park which encompasses a mini bamboo forest and is sheltered away from the main pathways.