Emperor complex
Huang built China鈥檚 first 'privatised city'. Is it utopia or his personal fiefdom?
In the span of five years, Chairman Huang turned farmland in China鈥檚 Sichuan province into Seaside City. The ocean-themed town, which Huang says was inspired by Dubai and Disneyland, is now home to more than 120,000 people. In the city centre, numerous maritime spectacles attract visitors from afar. The crown jewel is the world鈥檚 largest aquarium with several whale sharks and a community of sea turtles.
Huang says that his motivation for building the fast-growing city was to 鈥渕ove the sea 2000 kilometers inland鈥 and to create 鈥渢he most dazzling spectacle in the entire world鈥. But in actuality he is doing something almost as ambitious. Seaside City is China鈥檚 first 'privatised city', a paradigm-shattering model of Chinese urbanism. In this city, utilities, security, and land are operated by a private individual. Even the local media is run by Huang, which airs a news program once a week 鈥 starring himself.
But is Seaside City a forward-thinking economic experiment or the personal fiefdom of a megalomaniac? What do former peasants in the area think of the city? What about residents living the lives that Huang designed for them? How could this city exist in China, a country founded in a peasant result against landlords?
Welcome to Seaside City, an entirely new type of urban experience that Chairman Huang hopes to export to the whole world.
Presenter/Producer: David Borenstein
Editor: Philip Sellars
Additional producer: Jesper Jack, Zhang Xian
Additional reporter: Peng Ge
Sound Mix: Timothy Masters
(Photo: Chairman Huang. Credit: David Borenstein)
Last on
More episodes
Previous
Broadcasts
- Tue 26 Nov 2019 13:32GMT成人快手 World Service except News Internet
- Tue 26 Nov 2019 18:06GMT成人快手 World Service Australasia
- Tue 26 Nov 2019 21:06GMT成人快手 World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Tue 26 Nov 2019 23:06GMT成人快手 World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Wed 27 Nov 2019 02:32GMT成人快手 World Service except West and Central Africa
- Wed 27 Nov 2019 03:32GMT成人快手 World Service West and Central Africa
- Sat 30 Nov 2019 09:32GMT成人快手 World Service Americas and the Caribbean, UK DAB/Freeview, News Internet & Online only
- Sun 1 Dec 2019 18:06GMT成人快手 World Service News Internet
- Fri 12 Jun 2020 02:06GMT成人快手 World Service