There is nothing quite as breathtaking as a glorious sunrise, as the first rays of the sun start to peek out from behind the clouds. The thing is, some places on earth has been so polluted, that it is pretty difficult to watch an actual sunrise happen. Beijing is one such city, and China has decided to televise the sunrise on a giant TV display due to the intense smog that clouds the city.
I wonder whether these virtual sunrises that are shown off each day looks the same, or is it “programmed” so that it will show off some random patterns from day to day in order not to lose the novelty factor. The smog that blankets Beijing has been a serious problem for quite some time now, and especially during winter when stagnant weather patterns will merge with an increase in coal-burning, hence exacerbating the other forms of pollution that results in periods of heavy smog which could last up to days at any one time.
This is one advancement that I would not like to see in the future, and it will surely drive the price of eco-resorts even higher. Will such huge displays be of a bendable nature in the future? How about virtual sunsets, will those be played back as well?
Update – Turns out the photo was misrepresented. The banner was reportedly an ad for China’s Shandong province that is played on repeat. The photograph was one that was snapped at the right time when a clip from the ad, one of the sun, appeared.
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