By Gemma Mullin, Mirror, April 23, 2016
The 1,070ft-tall Bailong Elevator, also known as the Hundred Dragons Elevator, takes tourists up and down the side of a cliff offering breathtaking views
If you’re afraid of heights then look away now.
This glass elevator is the world’s tallest outdoor lift and stands at a breathtaking 1,070ft (326 metres) tall.
The Guinness World Record-holding Bailong Elevator – also known as the Hundred Dragons Elevator – takes tourists up and down the side of a cliff in the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in Hunan, China.
The three double-deck lift takes up to 50 people at a time and just 1 minute and 32 seconds to do a full ascent, offering breathtaking views over the area’s massive karst monolith formations, including one nearby called “Soldiers Gathering Together”.
But if you suffer from a fear of heights and still want to see the spectacular views across the mountains, be mindful that it will take two and half hours to climb.
The upper 562ft (171.4 metre) of the elevator, which has been open to the public since May 2002, is above ground and built on the side of a quartzite cliff.
The project cost 120m yuan, which is about £12 million, was met with fierce criticism from environmentalists when it first started being built in 1999 as it was in the middle of a World Heritage Site.
Even after it was opened it had to be quickly closed down over safety concerns but was reopened in 2003 and attracts around 5 million visitors every year.
It’s actually set three Guinness World Records – the world’s tallest full-exposure outdoor elevator, the world’s tallest double-deck sightseeing elevator; and the world’s fastest passenger traffic elevator with biggest carrying capacity.