Located in the mountainous region of southwestern China, Chongqing is renowned as one of the country’s largest cities and serves as a major producer of over half of the world’s laptops.

With a massive population of 32 million residing in an area spanning 31,815 square miles, Chongqing stands out as a city known for its extensive surveillance measures.

In a recent development, authorities in Chongqing implemented a sophisticated surveillance system consisting of 27,900 surveillance cameras and 245 sensors, forming an intricate ‘grid’ surveillance network to closely monitor the activities of its inhabitants, as per a report from Radio Free Asia.

For years, the city has been part of the ‘Sharp Eyes’ pilot scheme to tackle crime, with the city’s surveillance system closely monitoring every aspect of its inhabitants’ in an attempt to minimise dissent. 

Neighbourhood committees tasked with monitoring the activities of Chongqing’s locals have been likened to some of the world’s most significant intelligence networks.

Critics have long warned that such widespread surveillance in the Chinese megacity violates citizens’ rights to privacy – but despite this, chances of westerners knowing  much about Chongqing are relatively low. 

Situated in southeast China near the source of the Yangtze River, Chongqing has a rich history that stretches back over 3,000 years.  

But it is only in the past forty years that it has been transformed from a small village to the megacity it is today.  

Dubbed China’s ‘Cyberpunk city’, Chongqing has also emerged as a major hub for laptop production and the overall electronic information industry.

The city was placed on the global stage after computer hardware company HP set up its base for laptop production there in 2009. 

Other information companies have since followed suit, with firms like Foxconn, Quanta Computer, Lenovo and Asus, setting up successful operations in the Chinese megacity.

Driven by big data and artificial intelligence development, Chongqing has become an emblem of the fastest urban revolution on the planet.

The sky-high futuristic city – filled with giant buildings, multi-level highways and a metro system that barrels through residential buildings – has sparked intrigue on social media in recent years, however. 

With trains that whizz through apartment blocks and makeshift towns located inside skyscrapers, Chongqing is being touted as the most futuristic city in the world – but also the most dizzying. 

‘In Chongqing, we never know which floor we’re on,’ said TikToker Hugh Chongqing in a video that has amassed a staggering 3.2 million likes. 

‘It looks like I’m on normal square: the street is over there. But if we go there [to the edge] now we’re on the 22nd floor. 

‘But if we use the elevator on the square, it says we’re on the 12th floor. Then we take the elevator to the eighth floor, walk through this garage, and then we will be on the street. Go inside the building on the right, it says we’re on the 13th floor.’ 

The video shows just how confusing it can be to visit Chongqing, and highlights how map apps will take you to where you’re going – only for you to realise you’re ten storeys too low or high.

But the gigantic megacity – which covers an area the size of Austria –  is so dense that swathes of its population are reported to be living in darkness. 

The entirety of the city is built on multiple levels, and as local influencer Jackson Lu explained in a TikTok video – ‘sunlight is a luxury’ for those living in Chongqing’s lower floors.

Darkness for the city’s inhabitants is exacerbated by the fact it is enshrouded by a thick layer of fog for over 100 days of the year. 

Travel influencer Janet Newenham, who visited the city recently, also described seeing underground bunkers – which were built during WW2 – everywhere.  

The city is also so built up, that it now has its own microclimate – bringing about humidity and sweltering temperatures of up to 40C degrees.