Illustration: Chen Xia/GT

The other day I discovered something really cool online: EarthCam. These are live-streaming webcams set up by local governments and businesses all around the world that broadcast popular public places such as streets, beaches or parks to allow global viewers to explore our beautiful planet in real time.

Cities big and small now have cams set up in some of their most famous locales. Take Tokyo for example, with the hypnotic Shibuya Crossing cam (the world's busiest intersection) and even a couple cams set up on the tarmac of Narita Airport. In the US, we have cams at New York's Times Square and the Capitol building in Washington DC, amongst many others.

In Thailand, there's a cam overlooking the city of Bangkok and one at Pattaya Beach. In Tanzania a Mount Kilimanjaro cam. In Amsterdam a cam is set up at Dam Square. And in London an Abbey Road cam, because The Beatles once walked there. These video feeds are operating 24/7, so you can gaze upon them night or day to see what the locals are up to.

There are in fact many similar networks - EarthCam is just one - that host live-streaming videos around the world. But guess which country was left out of the viewing party? China! To be fair, a few platforms relay the extremely popular Giant Panda cams from breeding bases in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, but that's the extent of China's participation.

I'd like to use this article, then, to suggest that Shanghai take the lead in setting up authorized, government operated webcams at the city's most iconic sites.

How cool would it be for someone in, say, Israel or Canada to be able to watch a live video feed of, say, Nanjing Road Pedestrian Walkway or the Bund? I live here, but would still watch a cam from the Oriental Pearl Radio & TV Tower. The new scramble crossing at the intersection of Nanjing Road West and Changde Road might rival Shibuya in terms of pedestrian volume and could also be fun to watch.

The brilliant thing about my idea - if I do say so myself - is that police surveillance cameras are already mounted and operating at pretty much every intersection and tourist site in Shanghai. China leads the world in surveillance, according to a June 2018 article in the Global Times, and it continues to expand into the countryside, which keeps the country safe from ne'er-do-wells.

But bigger Chinese cities could also make use of this surveillance network to promote tourism of its attractions to people around the world. It would, for instance, be dazzling to watch boats sailing night and day up and down Shanghai's Huangpu River, which in turn could popularize its river cruises.

Lesser known local alternatives that would make for equally fascinating viewing would be community parks where seniors gather to sing and dance, and even some bustling residential neighborhoods, which would provide Western viewers insight into the Chinese way of life. This is exactly the type of soft power and cultural exchange that China has been seeking lately.

Eventually, the cam network could expand outward into other regional tourist destinations. I would, for example, watch the heck out of a 24/7 cam set up at Taishan Mountain in East China's Shandong Province, which boasts the first sunrise in the world. Same for the Great Wall of China at Beijing's Badaling, its busiest spot, and the old town of Lijiang in Southwest China's Yunnan Province, and Jiuzhai Valley in Sichuan, and the Longji Rice Terraces of South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

I understand and respect that China is strict about what is filmed and broadcast here, and there are also public security and privacy concerns that must first be addressed. But in terms of cultural promotion and tourism, live streaming webcams would be a boon to Shanghai's global image.

The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Global Times.