Prompt Cast
The Underground City of Beijing: A Solution to Housing Shortages
TLDR The Dixie Cheng complex in Beijing, an underground bunker capable of housing 300,000 people, was built due to Chairman Mao's fear of a Soviet invasion. Although never used for its intended purpose, about a million people in Beijing now live in the abandoned parts of the complex due to housing shortages and affordability issues.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
The Sino-Russian conflicts along the border starting in the mid-17th century were surprising because China and Russia didn't like each other and had tensions due to trade and political differences.
03:56
The border disputes between China and Russia were a result of larger tensions between the two countries, with Mao publicly criticizing the Soviets and the Soviets retaliating by withdrawing support and scientists, leading to the eruption of gunfire and a deadly attack on a patrol boat in 1969.
08:21
An underground bunker capable of housing 300,000 of Beijing's residents was built because Chairman Mao got paranoid that the Soviets were going to invade and launch nukes on his people.
12:29
Beneath Beijing lies 18 miles of tunnels that connect every district in the city and include bomb shelters, ventilation shafts, recreational facilities, and 90 different entrances.
16:35
The complex, called Dixie Cheng, was never used as an underground city because the big apocalypse never happened and after Chairman Mao's death in the 70s, China experienced a real opening of their culture, leading to the opening of the complex for tours in 1981.
20:31
About a million people in Beijing, out of a population of 21 million, have moved underground, living in the abandoned parts of the Dixie Chang complex.
24:36
Many people in Beijing choose to live underground because they cannot afford to live above ground and there is a shortage of housing options, with the choice being to live in a crowded dorm-like room in the suburbs or have their own small concrete room underground.
28:41
The people living underground in Beijing have to work to keep mold at bay and there were rumors of secret tunnels connecting the underground bunker to other government buildings, which were confirmed during the Tiananmen Square uprising in 1989.
32:17
Soft rock mining pertains to sedimentary rock, while hard rock pertains to igneous or metamorphic rocks.
Categories:
Society & Culture
