World’s Longest Escalator Hugs a Mountain in China

In the steep, mountainous city of Chongqing, China, engineers have built something that sounds a little ridiculous until you see it: the world’s longest outdoor escalator system.

Known as the Wushan Goddess Escalator, the installation stretches about 905 meters, or nearly 3,000 feet, and climbs more than 240 meters up the mountainside.

Instead of one giant escalator, it’s a chain of 21 escalators connected with elevators, walkways, and pedestrian bridges.

The goal was super simple. Chongqing is famously vertical, with neighborhoods stacked into the hills and mountains.

What used to be a long, sweaty climb up steep roads and staircases can now be done in about 20 minutes.

For locals, it’s just practical infrastructure. For visitors, it probably feels a bit like commuting through a science fiction city.

But in a place where the terrain rises like a wall, sometimes the simplest solution is just to build a really, really long escalator.

Via Interesting Engineering.