Overview

• Chongqing, home to 32 million people, produces over half of the world’s laptops, hosting major tech firms like HP, Foxconn, and Lenovo.
• Authorities recently installed nearly 28,000 cameras and 245 sensors as part of the Sharp Eyes program, a surveillance initiative launched in 2015 to monitor citizens.
• The city’s disorienting multi-level urban design often leaves residents and visitors confused about their location within its labyrinthine streets and buildings.
• Dense construction and geography have created a microclimate with persistent fog, high humidity, and temperatures reaching up to 40°C, leaving many lower-level residents in near darkness.
• Critics liken the Sharp Eyes program’s citizen surveillance and monitoring to mechanisms from China’s Cultural Revolution, raising concerns about privacy and social control.