Beijing at night, photographed from the Tiangong space station, with the recording location marked
The night it began

Beijing, seen from space, the night the recording started

This photograph was taken from the Chinese space station Tiangong on the night of 24 August 2021 — the very night the microphone first went live on the AIIB roof. Somewhere in that golden web of light, birds were already crossing the city in the dark. The blue marker shows the recording site, in the heart of the city.

Image by taikonaut Nie Haisheng, aboard Tiangong. Recording location annotated by Terry Townshend.