An isometric 3D render of a city street with simplified yellow figures and cars. Speech bubbles point to different elements with text including “Ancient-looking buildings!”, “Chain smokers!”, “Crazy taxi death battles!” and “Chinese Walmart!”.

Miscellaneous: A webcomic based in China's version of Google Maps

Words: Maisie Skidmore
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Date: 14 May 2014; Work

Webcomics are another medium to emerge from the digital sphere, and a very interesting one at that; Bird’s Eye China is just another example of how funny, accessible and scathing they can be. The Tumblr blog is made up of screenshots from Baidu maps, a kind of Chinese online mapping service not dissimilar to Google Maps, but brilliantly, looks just like SimCity.

Noticing this, some clever so-and-so decided to add captions to the tiny orange people walking about to paint a picture of a dirty, smoggy, consumerist country full of giant skyscrapers plopped next to incredible historical buildings, which may or may not be accurate. The captions range from the gently mocking to the harshly satirical, so they’re probably best avoided by Chinese people with a strong patriotic streak, but they’re totally worth a look.

A 3D render of a construction site with yellow cranes atop green skyscrapers. A caption below reads, “Who the fuck is Herzog & De Meuron? I built this with my bare hands,” pondered Zhang Xijie, migrant worker and father of one. — Above
Bird’s Eye China: Webcomic

An isometric illustration of a Beijing street scene with several satirical labels. The text includes “Ancient-looking buildings!”, “Chain smokers!”, “Crazy taxi death battles!”, “Chinese Walmart!” and “Babies shitting on the street!”. — Above
Bird’s Eye China: Webcomic

A 3D render of a construction site featuring a tall, green-tiled building and a yellow crane. Two small figures stand below, with speech bubbles discussing the site’s history and a contract to build an Ikea. — Above
Bird’s Eye China: Webcomic

An isometric 3D render of a shipping port with rows of colourful containers and railway tracks. Two small figures stand among the cargo, with speech bubbles containing a conversation about China’s manufacturing power and a shipment of “20,000 glow-in-the-dark dildos”. — Above
Bird’s Eye China: Webcomic

An isometric illustration of an outdoor swimming pool in a city, with a header that reads “GROWING UP IN BEIJING”. Small yellow figures swim in the pool while speech bubbles exchange a joke about wearing a gas mask due to pollution. — Above
Bird’s Eye China: Webcomic

A 3D render of a city skyline with a tall blue glass skyscraper and a yellow building. Speech bubbles between the buildings read, “Li Qiang, what are the plans for the upcoming year?”, “Continued exploitation of cheap labor. New partnerships with Russian arms dealers. Dealings with corrupt officials. The usual, sir.” and “Brilliant, Li Qiang. Just brilliant.” — Above
Bird’s Eye China: Webcomic

An isometric 3D render of a city street where two small figures stand talking. Speech bubbles above them contain a conversation about working at Apple, with one person identifying as an “interface designer” and the other as a “screwdriver operator”. — Above
Bird’s Eye China: Webcomic

Further Info

www.birdseyechina.tumblr.com

About the Author

Maisie Skidmore

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Maisie joined It’s Nice That fresh out of university in the summer of 2013 as an intern before joining full time as an Assistant Editor. Maisie left It’s Nice That in July 2015.

Miscellaneous: A webcomic based in China's version of Google Maps

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