Apple shows off stunning mural for its new Chongqing store

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Pretty spectacular, huh? Photo: Apple
You might even call it iGrabbing. Photo: Apple

Given that Tim Cook thinks China will soon overtake the U.S. as Apple’s biggest market, it’s no surprise that Apple is taking its expansion into China seriously.

Amidst plans to open 25 new retail stores in the country by 2016, Apple has just released a new video showing a new mural outside its upcoming second Apple store in Chongqing, set to open at 10am local time on January 31.

The mural was created as a collaboration between international photographer and former engineer Navid Baraty (best known for these spectacular vertigo-inducing cityscapes) and artist Yangyang Pan.

AppleStore2

Although only Baraty’s part of the video is in English, he describes the unique working relationship between the two artists, who seemingly did not interact during the mural’s creation. Baraty visited Chongqing to take photos, after which he handed the prints over to Pan, who painted over them. The video can be viewed here, although if Apple’s recent history is anything to go by, it will release an English translation several days down the line.

Creating murals for its Apple Stores seems to be one strategy specific to China that Apple is using to help build buzz for its brick-and-mortar retail stores. Recently, the company debuted another mural — this time for its Chinese Apple Store in West Lake, Hangzhou — created by renowned calligrapher Wang Dongling.

Moreso than any other country outside of the U.S., Apple is going out of its way to target its products at the Chinese market: whether this be murals by Chinese artists aimed at engaging the buying public — or agreeing to accept the Chinese government’s demands to screen all Apple products for NSA backdoors before they can be imported into the country.

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