Tech & Innovation

Aerial photos show how China makes order from chaos

The arrangement. (Reuters/Stringer)
The arrangement. (Reuters/Stringer)
By
Selina Cheng
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It’s hard to manage 1.4 billion people, especially when more than half of them tend to clutter together—55% of China’s population live in cities and towns, according to the World Bank data from 2015.

Reuters photographers have captured sprawling communities in China high from the sky, to provide a unique perspective of what it looks like to organize school exams, factories, farmlands, parking lots, banquets, cemeteries, and mass trainings in the most populous country in the world.

Vehicles are seen stuck in a traffic jam near a toll station at the end of a week-long national holiday, in Beijing, China, Oct. 6, 2015. (Reuters/China Daily)
Vehicles are seen stuck in a traffic jam near a toll station at the end of a week-long national holiday, in Beijing, China, Oct. 6, 2015. (Reuters/China Daily)
Damaged vehicles near the site of a chemical explosion in Binhai new district of Tianjin, China, Aug. 15, 2015. (Reuters/Stringer)
Damaged vehicles near the site of a chemical explosion in Binhai new district of Tianjin, China, Aug. 15, 2015. (Reuters/Stringer)
Quilts for Alibaba Group’s employees to be used as they prepare for the upcoming 11.11 global shopping festival, also called Singles’ Day, are dried in a yard of the company’s Xixi campus in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, Nov. 3, 2016. (Reuters/Stringer)
Quilts for Alibaba Group’s employees to be used as they prepare for the upcoming 11.11 global shopping festival, also called Singles’ Day, are dried in a yard of the company’s Xixi campus in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, Nov. 3, 2016. (Reuters/Stringer)
Newlywed couples attend a mass ceremony in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, April 30, 2016. (Reuters/Stringer)
Newlywed couples attend a mass ceremony in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, April 30, 2016. (Reuters/Stringer)
Boats being anchored in a bay as Typhoon Chan-Hom approaches Taizhou, Zhejiang province, July 9, 2015. (Reuters/Stringer)
Boats being anchored in a bay as Typhoon Chan-Hom approaches Taizhou, Zhejiang province, July 9, 2015. (Reuters/Stringer)
A group of 1,000 customers receive facial massages at a sports center in Jinan, Shandong province, May 4, 2015. (Reuters/Stringer)
A group of 1,000 customers receive facial massages at a sports center in Jinan, Shandong province, May 4, 2015. (Reuters/Stringer)
A feast in Yangji village to celebrate residents moving back after demolition and rebuilding in Guangdong Province, Oct. 2, 2016. (Reuters/Stringer)
A feast in Yangji village to celebrate residents moving back after demolition and rebuilding in Guangdong Province, Oct. 2, 2016. (Reuters/Stringer)
Employees work at a vinegar and soy sauce mill in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, Jan. 26, 2016. (Reuters/China Daily)
Employees work at a vinegar and soy sauce mill in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, Jan. 26, 2016. (Reuters/China Daily)
Tea leaves are dried at a tea company in Dening, Fujian Province, April 2, 2016. (Reuters/Stringer)
Tea leaves are dried at a tea company in Dening, Fujian Province, April 2, 2016. (Reuters/Stringer)
Students from a martial-arts school attend training session by performing Shaolin Kung Fu and other practices in Dengfeng, Henan Province, April 7, 2016. (Reuters/Stringer)
Students from a martial-arts school attend training session by performing Shaolin Kung Fu and other practices in Dengfeng, Henan Province, April 7, 2016. (Reuters/Stringer)
Newly harvested red chilis spread out to dry in the sun in Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, Oct. 11, 2016. (Reuters/China Daily)
Newly harvested red chilis spread out to dry in the sun in Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, Oct. 11, 2016. (Reuters/China Daily)
People burn joss paper money as they pray at a public cemetery during Qingming Festival, or Tomb Sweeping Festival, in Fuzhou, Jiangxi Province, April 4, 2016. (Reuters/Stringer)
People burn joss paper money as they pray at a public cemetery during Qingming Festival, or Tomb Sweeping Festival, in Fuzhou, Jiangxi Province, April 4, 2016. (Reuters/Stringer)
Delivery men attend a training session in Shanghai, China, March 30, 2016. (Reuters/Stringer)
Delivery men attend a training session in Shanghai, China, March 30, 2016. (Reuters/Stringer)
A public cemetery as seen ahead of the Qingming Festival, or Tomb Sweeping Day in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, March 26, 2015. (Reuters/Stringer)
A public cemetery as seen ahead of the Qingming Festival, or Tomb Sweeping Day in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, March 26, 2015. (Reuters/Stringer)
New Audi cars in a lot in Changchun, Jilin province, Oct. 14, 2015. (Reuters/Stringer)
New Audi cars in a lot in Changchun, Jilin province, Oct. 14, 2015. (Reuters/Stringer)
Workers pick tea leaves at a plantation in Dongyang, Zhejiang province, March 25, 2015. (Reuters/China Daily)
Workers pick tea leaves at a plantation in Dongyang, Zhejiang province, March 25, 2015. (Reuters/China Daily)