The Bailong Elevator (Chinese: 百龙电梯; literally Hundred Dragons Elevator) is a glass double-deck elevator built onto the side of a cliff in the Wulingyuan area of Zhangjiajie, People's Republic of China that is 326 m (1,070 ft) high.[1][2][3][4] It was recognised by Guinness World Records as the world's tallest outdoor elevator on 16 July 2015[5] and is purported to be the fastest passenger elevator with the largest loading capacity.[3] After a 2015 upgrade, the cars now speed up the ascent in just one minute and 32 seconds.[4]
Construction of the elevator began in October 1999, and it was opened to the public by 2002.[3] The elevator was built into the quartz sandstone cliff face, with the lower 505 feet embedded inside the mountain wall, and the upper 565 feet consisting of exposed steel derrick.[4]
The environmental effects of the elevator have been a subject of debate and controversy, as the Wulingyuan area was designated a World Heritage Site in 2002.[3][6] Operations were stopped for 10 months in 2002–2003, reportedly due to safety concerns, not environmental ones, because of its location in an earthquake-prone area.[7][4]
