Chongqing, in southwestern China, has grown to some 32 million people across an area the size of Austria, its skyline stacked so steeply that GPS often cannot tell which floor a destination sits on. This DW film follows city guide Zhen Jili through the districts he still calls a "big village," tracing how the place changed inside his own lifetime. It spends its night hours with Shen Xun, a professional designated driver who folds his bicycle into a stranger's trunk before chauffeuring them home under China's strict drink-driving laws, tagging along as he ferries customers through Chongqing's bars until sunrise. A livestreamer named Paipai explains how broadcasting from street corners and rooftop bars has become a billion-dollar industry, leading the crew to one of the city's tallest towers for a view straight into the skyline. Between the elevated train that runs through the eighth floor of a residential high-rise and the crowds chasing photo spots, the film builds a street-level portrait of a city built vertically and running at full speed after dark.