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Take a drone tour of what may be the world’s skinniest city

Comedian Jonathan Winters used to joke about a mythical place named Kwaziland, a country only 10 feet wide and 11 miles long. Its main exports are spaghetti and rope. Kwaziland may be fictional, but Yanjin County could easily flourish in the pasta and string trade. Take a drone tour of a skinny metropolis.

The city is squeezed between the Nanxi River and the mountains of Yunnan Province in China’s northwest. At places, it’s only 30 meters wide. But even at its most spacious, on one coast of the river, it’s barely 300 meters between two sides of town. Good luck finding parking.

Drone pilot A-yuan took these wonderful drone shots of a city that’s barely wider than its main road.

As you might expect, the Nanxi is prone to flooding. So, many of the buildings are perched on concrete stilts. You have to be a special kind of person to call Yanjin home. And about 450,00 people do. The community’s been settled for more than a century.

Take a drone tour of a skinny metropolis

Yanjin is something of a favorite with drone photographers.

Once they get over the narrowness of the community, pilots are struck by how difficult it must be to get from one side to the other.

Drones provide a great way to see unique communities that few of us would ever be lucky enough to visit.

And in case you’re wondering, Yanjin’s actual main export used to be salt, although now it’s tobacco and cement. But it really should consider garden hoses, vaulting poles and stretch limos.

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Avatar for David MacQuarrie David MacQuarrie

David MacQuarrie is a 35 year+ veteran of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He worked in St. John’s, Ottawa, Toronto, and Beijing where he worked as a news writer, reporter, producer for the national and local television and radio networks. His stories on science and technology won ACTRA and Columbus awards.

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