Eberhard Ritzau Driven by nature

Dear all,
A warm welcome to all new friends here — and thank you so much for subscribing! 😊
The weather in Germany has been quite bad lately, mostly grey or rainy, and not ideal for filming nature. So I used this quieter time to review the channel. I was honestly a bit shocked when comparing my old Shennongjia videos with my recent Alps footage.
Last summer, someone told me that YouTube doesn’t accept 4K uploads — so I uploaded the Shennongjia videos only in HD.
To make things worse, most of the original footage is now on a broken external drive… but luckily, I managed to save the 4K clips from inside the nature reserve!
I have now completely re-cut the Shennongjia drive in full 4K, and the difference is huge. The beauty of the Daba Mountains — home of the famous Shennongjia Nature Reserve — finally comes through the way it should.
Even if you’ve seen some of the original videos, this new version might be worth watching again.
https://youtu.be/m863hoXUK1c

Shennongjia impressed me so deeply that I plan to return next year:
• Early spring for the blooming season
• Late autumn for the color changes
I’ll return now to China, next on the channel will be Huangshan Mountains in winter. ( January)
Thank you all very much for supporting my channel.
And if you’re planning your own trip, feel free to contact me anytime — I’m always happy to help.
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1 month ago | [YT] | 0

Eberhard Ritzau Driven by nature

Dear All,
Nov. 5th, we had an exceptional fullmoon and sometimes I like to play around with my cameras and drones and share the technical possibilities they offer. The timelaps is somehow beautiful and the fading fog looks better than every fireworks.
Have fun and best regards
Eberhard
https://youtu.be/16Ee13CEtdM

1 month ago | [YT] | 0

Eberhard Ritzau Driven by nature

Dear All,
First, a warm welcome to all new subscribers. I’m very glad to see more like-minded people joining here — thank you for supporting this channel.
Some of you may be wondering about the channel name Driven by Nature and why the description focuses on Chinese mountain roads, while the recent videos came from Germany and the Alps.
To explain briefly:
My hometown is Passau in Germany, and I had to stay there longer than expected for medical treatment. I’ve lived in Shanghai for almost 30 years, and in mid-December I’ll be back in China. Then the journey of exploring Chinese mountain roads and remote valleys will continue.
The time in the Alps was wonderful — clear air, sunshine, and dramatic peaks. Perfect conditions for filming, and honestly: whether you look from 1,500 m to a 3,000 m peak in the Alps, or from 4,000 m to a 5,500 m peak in China — the feeling of looking up into the mountains is the same. 😊
But for me, the Alps were also something I had missed for a very long time.I grew up nearby and spend all free time with skiing in the places I revisited after decades now
On the other side, I am looking forward very much to returning to China.
There you find roads in remote regions where the car barely fits between rock walls, and the warm, humid climate creates incredibly lush vegetation. Because there were no glaciers during the ice age, many mountain ranges in Central and Southern China were shaped only by erosion — resulting in those unique, almost surreal rock formations like Huangshan and many other lesser-known areas.
It’s a different world — and sometimes a dangerous one.
Rockfalls are common in bad weather, typhoons and hailstorms can change plans quickly, and during the holiday season the roads can get extremely crowded. Sometimes the best choice is simply to wait.
In general:
• Winter is the only dry season in the southern Chinese mountains.
• Central and Western China are best from early to late spring.
• Summer is difficult due to heat and mass travel.
• Late September onward is usually the best season again.

I just uploaded a short clip from my Chinese hometown, a northern Suburb of Shanghai, located directly on the shore of the Yangtze River


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKqJh...


It’s not too much nature there but the huge Estuary is somehow fascinating, specially in perfect clear air after a Typhoon was passing by
Thank you all again for being here.
I’m excited to take you with me when the road leads back into the mountains.

2 months ago | [YT] | 0

Eberhard Ritzau Driven by nature

want to share this ! Lake Antholz in massiv clouds

3 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 1

Eberhard Ritzau Driven by nature

Dear all,
Our small community is slowly but steadily growing . A warm welcome to all new subscribers
Recognizing your acceptance for the content is for me like fueling up the car for the next mountainroads 😊
During our 5 days in the Alps we experienced 3 perfect sunny days, one day supplied us dramatic pictures with heavy clouds ( see attached ) , sometimes broken by sun and crystal blue sky
video Clip : Defereggen Valley
The next day we crossed 3 passes in perfect sunny weather
I just uploaded the first clip

https://youtu.be/cYpmMKV_rNg

Staller Sattel - Passo di Stalla from Austria to Italy
I can promise, 30 minutes of beautyfully pictures !

The next 3 videos will be

- The Gader Valley
- Passo Pordoi
- Passo Sella
-
Rounding up this perfect day
- Val Gardena and the ascent to Kastelruth
And that’s Dolomites pure! massiv, impressive rock formations resting on smooth bases with nice vegetation contrasting the rocks
For me the most beautifully part of the Alps
So, there’s still a lot to cut before I can start the video of the thrilling Stelvio drive

Thanks again and with best regards
Eberhard

3 months ago | [YT] | 0

Eberhard Ritzau Driven by nature

Dear All
The DJI Action Camera delivers excellent sharp pictures in beautifull colour and I uploaded all new movies from the Alps in highest possible resolution ( 4K)
To enjoy the full quality you may have to change your playback setting to 2160p60 4K
if successfully a small red 4K sign appears at the Settings Icon
Unfortunately the playback setting of youtube plays the clips mostly in lower HD resolution or even less

furthermore, if you're interested in nice Drone movies , I can recommend the channel of one of my subscribers

Mr Blackman
www.youtube.com/channel/UCKV_...

have fun
Eberhard

3 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 2

Eberhard Ritzau Driven by nature

Dear friends,

Thanks again for subscribing and supporting my channel — I’m very happy to see new faces joining from the Yangtse Gorge and Forgotten Valley videos. It shows me that strong visuals and hidden landscapes really connect with you.

I'm just back from a 5 days roadtrip in the Austrian, Italian and Swizz Alps. We crossed 8 passes and drove through beautifull valleys and gorges. I got tons of 4K footage in perfect weather. Please check a short teaser from the first 4 mountainroads https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3GEE...
This may give you an idea what's comming in the next weeks
If you watch , please make sure that your Youtube playback setting is on 2160p60 . If so a, small red 4K sign appears on your setting icon and you can enjoy the perfect quality of the vids, I upload in highest possible quality


Editing will take me around 2–3 weeks, but I believe it will be worth the wait. After the teaser, you can look forward to complete episodes of legendary roads like Grossglockner, Pordoi & Sella, and Stelvio.

Thanks again for being here from the start — your support keeps me motivated on this journey.

Stay tuned,
Driven by Nature

4 months ago | [YT] | 1

Eberhard Ritzau Driven by nature

Update from Germany: Road Trips, Delays & Future Plans
Dear All,
Our community is slowly but steadily growing — a very warm welcome to all new subscribers! I’m truly grateful for your kind attention.
Now for the not-so-good part: you subscribed to a channel about Nature and Chinese mountain roads, but at the moment I’m only posting clips from Passau in Germany ☹. I hope you’re not too disappointed — I just wanted to bridge an unexpected break with some views of a beautiful town whose roots go back to around 280 AD.
2 or 3 short clips will follow, hope you enjoy them


Under normal circumstances, I would be on a plane to China today, preparing to start next Monday’s road trip through Shanxi (Qinling Mountains), Gansu, and Sichuan (Min and Hengduan Mountains). Unfortunately, my doctor thinks my body needs a bit of “service” before tackling passes up to 5,000 m. That means I had to cancel this trip, since most of the roads I planned to drive will already be closed by late autumn ☹.

Instead, I'm just working on a trip in November to Yunnan , Jade Snow Mountains and the southern Hengduan mountains.
In the meantime, while I’m in Germany , I’ll take the chance to film some road trips into the Austrian Alps. Next week we’ll drive the Grossglockner and Pustertaler High Roads, as well as the “Staller Sattel” on the Italian border. The weather looks promising, so I hope to capture some beautiful footage to upload soon


By the way, one of our subscribers runs a very nice channel about driving in Poland:
Worth to watch !

CarDrivingASMR
@CarDrivingASMR-1
•1.49K subscribers•126 videos

With best regards
Eberhard

4 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 1

Eberhard Ritzau Driven by nature

Dear All,

First, a warm welcome to our new subscribers. I truly appreciate your support — thank you so much! 😊

Second, as always, plans and reality don’t always go hand in hand. Some minor health issues canceled my September plans for Gansu, Zaghana, and Cuo Daixi. I need to stay in Europe for some treatments but hope to continue exploring the Chinese mountains in November.

In June we were actually very lucky. We interrupted our planned trip to Shanxi, Sichuan, and Gansu after some perfect days in Shennongjia. Later, those exact destinations were hit hard by this year’s heavy monsoon, which caused severe flooding and landslides across central China, reaching even the Beijing area. Some of the mountain roads I had planned to drive were simply washed away. Hopefully, they will be rebuilt before the next dry season in autumn 2026.

In November, the plan is to continue in the southern Hengduan Mountains, along the Laotian border, and through the regions of the Nujiang, Salween, Mekong, and Yangtze rivers. But also here, the extreme weather has destroyed many of the small, beautiful mountain roads.

For now, I have captured some wonderful footage of Passau (my former hometown), a historic city in Lower Bavaria located at the confluence of three rivers: the Danube, Inn, and Ilz.

I also hope to get back into the mountains soon — driving the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse in the Austrian Alps, exploring some smaller mountain roads near the Italian border in the Dolomites, and maybe revisiting the Bavarian Forest, which is close to my home.

So, I hope you stay with us until we’re back on the road in China.
Any comments are always welcome, and if you’d like more information about any of these destinations, please feel free to contact me by mail.

Best regards,
Eberhard

4 months ago | [YT] | 0

Eberhard Ritzau Driven by nature

"A Note to All Subscribers" ( Chinese version please see down )


Dear all,
First of all, thank you very much for subscribing to our channel.
It seems we’re now a small but like-minded group of people — and honestly, I believe we’ll probably remain a small group.
So, let me share the idea behind this channel.
I’m German and have been living in China for nearly 30 years. This channel started simply as a way to share the incredible beauty of China with my friends and part of my family back in Germany.
To my surprise and delight, others with a passion for nature and landscapes have also joined. That means a lot to me.
After the disappointing response to my first driving clips in the Huangshan Mountains (Anhui Province), I decided to upgrade everything:
– Better video gear (now 4K)
– A drone to capture aerial views
– And the addition of photos to show sideviews and wide panoramas that the dashcam misses.
My wife — also the co-driver — often forces me to stop and take photos 😊. These stops give us a very different perspective, and I realized how important they are to share the real feeling of the journey.
The drone now helps show not only the landscape but also how people live in these remote areas — something that’s difficult to see from the road alone.
I mostly try to explore less touristic regions, mountain roads, and hidden or nearly unknown places. But traveling in China has two big challenges:
1. Monsoon and typhoon season – The small roads we love can become dangerous due to rockfalls and landslides.
2. Chinese public holidays – Traffic jams, fully booked hotels, and chaotic highways make traveling during these times nearly impossible.
To be honest — I’m very experienced in driving, but I’m still new to video editing and flying drones (which is much harder than I expected to do smoothly!).
So please, any feedback is more than welcome — whether it’s what to show more (or less), or if something looks or sounds silly. It all helps me improve.
🎵 About music:
I’m probably twice the age of most YouTube viewers — so instead of trying to guess what music fits, I leave the videos silent. If you have 20–30 minutes to enjoy a full trip video, it’s a great time to turn on Spotify and watch with your favorite music.
________________________________________
📌 What’s next?
Upcoming trips (if the weather allows):
1. Gansu (Tewo County), northern Sichuan, and the Hengduan Mountains — September/October
2. Yunnan and South Sichuan — November/December
Cutting long videos during trips is difficult, so I’ve started a playlist called “That’s China” for short videos and updates — small impressions along the way.
________________________________________
For now, we’ll take a summer break — it’s monsoon and typhoon season here, and it’s also school holiday time.
💬 If you’d like more information or just want to say hello, feel free to write in the comments or email me.
Thank you again for joining this journey.
Updates will follow!
Best regards,
Eberhard

给订阅者的一封信（中文版本）
亲爱的朋友们：
首先，非常感谢大家订阅我们的频道！
现在我们是一个小小的群体，但我相信我们是志同道合的朋友，可能也会一直保持这样温暖的小圈子。
我想向大家简单介绍一下这个频道的初衷：
我是德国人，在中国生活了将近30年。这个频道最初只是为了分享中国的自然之美给我在德国的家人和朋友。
令我高兴的是，现在也有越来越多热爱自然风景的朋友加入我们，这让我非常感动。
在黄山（安徽省）的初期驾驶视频反响不佳之后，我决定全面升级设备：
– 使用 4K 高清画质拍摄
– 增加航拍视角
– 并在视频中加入照片，展示车载摄像头无法捕捉到的美丽全景和侧面风光。
我太太（也是副驾驶 😄）经常让我停车拍照。这些照片带来了与驾驶画面完全不同的视角，也让我意识到这些“停下来欣赏”的瞬间有多重要。
航拍镜头不仅能展现壮丽的自然风光，也能让大家更真实地看到中国偏远地区人们的生活方式。
我们大多选择非热门景点、小众山路，甚至探索那些地图上都难找的地方。不过，中国旅行也面临两个现实挑战：
1. 雨季和台风季节 – 山区道路在暴雨天气容易发生落石和滑坡
2. 法定节假日 – 高速拥堵、住宿紧张，出行极为困难
坦白说，我对驾驶很有经验，但对于视频剪辑和无人机拍摄还是个新手（要拍得平稳好看，比我想象的难多了 😅）
所以，如果你有任何建议，比如希望多看些什么、少看些什么、对视频里哪些内容不满意，欢迎随时留言或私信我，帮助我不断改进内容。
🎵 关于配乐：
我的年纪可能比大部分观众都大两轮了 😂，所以我实在难以判断哪种音乐合大家口味。
如果你愿意花 20–30 分钟看一个完整的行车视频，不妨打开 Spotify 或你喜欢的音乐播放器，一边听歌一边欣赏风景，享受属于你自己的节奏。
________________________________________
🧭 接下来的旅行计划：
如果天气许可，接下来的目的地可能会非常精彩：
1. 甘肃岷山地区（迭部县）、北川一带、横断山北段 – 预计9月/10月
2. 云南及四川南部 – 预计11月/12月
旅行期间我不太方便剪辑完整视频，因此我们开设了一个新播放列表 “这就是中国 That’s China”，用来更新旅途中遇到的短视频片段和即时印象。
________________________________________
现在我们将迎来一次短暂的 夏季休整 —— 正值雨季和台风季，又是暑假，出行确实不太方便。
📩 如果你对旅行线路感兴趣，或想获取更多信息，欢迎通过评论区留言，或发邮件与我联系。
再次感谢你加入这个旅途！
后续更新即将到来！
祝好！
Eberhard

6 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 0