Located in Hunan, China is the Bailong Elevator reaching over a thousand feet going up alongside magnificent pillars of the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. Opened in 2002, the elevator was built on the cliff face of which the lower half was embedded in the mountain. Three elevators run up and down the side of the mountain carrying tourists.
Although an impressive feat of engineering, it isn’t without opposition. The area is known for a few earthquakes and safety is a natural concern. The elevator was shut down for a few months to install detectors to allow early warning for evacuation.
The main controversy comes from building an elevator within a protected national park. Increased tourists and other environmental concerns were the main reason to oppose the construction. But I think the reason for doing it benefits the environment.
Reading about the Bailong Elevator from the topchinatravel.com site: “After doing the environmental assessment, experts…say the elevator does more good than harm.” To paraphrase visitors used to travel three hours on dangerous mountain roads to the scenic spot. Hotels were built to accommodate travelers. Now that the elevator has been built those hotels have been removed as the time from bottom to top is just over a minute.
Would love to see this.
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