Destination "
Avatar
": in the Zhangjiajie Forest Park (central China), an outdoor elevator offers breathtaking views.
Opened in 2002, Bailong Elevator ("
One Hundred Dragons
") is located in the mountainous province of Hunan, has been recognized since 2015 by the Guinness Book of Records as "
the highest outdoor elevator in the world
" (326 meters).
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Avatar
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Sliding on a metal structure anchored to the cliff, the three panoramic cabins with transparent windows take tourists on an 88-second journey, carried out at a maximum speed of more than 5 meters per second.
"
It's super fast,
" enthuses Jin Shihao, a senior who has just left the cabin, who assures us that "
he was not afraid
" during the impressive trip paid 125 yuan round trip (16 euros).
“
One of the main reasons we came is that the site inspired '
Avatar'
.
The film really marked us.
And it's true that it's beautiful,
”says Qiao Ke, a 45-year-old tourist with his family.
Listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site since 1992, the Wulingyuan area, which houses the elevator, covers 26,000 hectares.
It is dominated by more than 3,000 quartzite sandstone pillars, many of which exceed 200 meters.
This natural site has become world famous for having inspired director James Cameron for the dreamlike settings of Pandora, the fictional planet on which the plot of the American blockbuster “
Avatar
” (2009) takes place.
"
We built the elevator because the topography of the place, all in verticality, really lends itself to this mode of transport
", explains Liu Jie, the director of the company managing the pharaonic device.
"
Before, there was only a cable car with limited capacity, so tourists had to wait a long time
" or go up on foot, "
which takes three hours and was not very convenient.
»More than 8,000 visitors use the elevator on average every day.
However, they were around 14,000 last year before the Covid-19 epidemic.
Over 8,000 visitors use the elevator on average every day WANG ZHAO / AFP
