World’s tallest elevator in China takes you through Avatar-like floating mountains

Bailong Elevator in China holds the record of being the world’s tallest outdoor elevator or lift, and finds a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records. Although it had its share of controversies initially, this architectural wonder standing at a height of 1070 ft tall definitely deserves a visit.
Located in the scenic Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, the Bailong Elevator is also known as the Hundred Dragons Elevator. What makes this elevator a must-visit is not only its height, but also the backdrop that is formed of majestic sandstone pillars. The flight starts from the forest bed, before taking you to reach its tallest height, passing through the sandstone pillars. The flight will transport you to the magical floating Hallelujah Mountains of Pandora that you might have watched in the popular movie Avatar.
An investment of $20 million had been infused in the construction of the Bailong Elevator, and had been built in a quartz sandstone cliff face, which had been selected cautiously. The shafts and tunnels were dug through the cliff to accommodate the three glass-faced double-decker elevators. This is also the reason why the elevator was shrouded in controversies. While many felt that the elevator might prove to be damaging to the environment, others were of the opinion that the structure would help to relieve pressure from the already overcrowded mountain trails.

However, now it has become a major crowd puller, and the reasons are quite valid. This elevator enables visitors to see many other areas of the park, which were earlier accessible only by a dangerous mountain road trail, and used to take around three hours to navigate. Each elevator has the capability of carrying a load of 4900 kg, and can transport around 50 passengers at a time in each car. While the cars will take you to the top in 1 minute and 32 seconds, a free climb to the upper section of the elevator will take 68 min and 26 sec.

If you are keen on a trip to this Avatar-like location, be ready to wait in queues, which might be pretty long depending on the time of year. However, if you want to save a few hours hiking, it is well worth the wait.