There was no shortage of ambitious engineering or science and technology feats in China in the year 2018, and many attracted international spotlight for breaking records. 

Here are some of what we think are China's most interesting accomplishments in 2018.

Fun fact: The name of this unmanned mission to the dark side of the moon is inspired by a goddess associated with the moon in Chinese mythology. In ancient folklore, Chang'e is the goddess who flew to the moon after she drank an elixir given to her husband Hou Yi for shooting down nine scorching suns from the sky.

‍Where‍: South China

Fun fact: About 420,000 tonnes of steel – enough to build 60 Eiffel Towers – reportedly went into the construction of this mega project. Meanwhile, because the bridge links two special administrative regions (SAR) and cities in the western delta area, cars will keep to the left side of the road in Hong Kong and Macao and change to the right when they cross the boundary checkpoints to the Chinese mainland. Also, although it is 55-kilometer long, the bridge doesn't have any public toilets or petrol stations.

Thought to be an impossible feat of engineering, the HZMB has been lauded as one of the "seven wonders of the modern world." It's designed to withstand earthquakes and typhoons and a section of the bridge also dips into an undersea tunnel running between two artificial islands in order to allow ships to pass. 

Where: Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, Southwest China

Fun fact: You heard it right – a waterfall, incorporated into a façade of a skyscraper. It's reported that keeping it running is so high maintenance that it has been switched on only for less than 10 times, and getting the waterfall ready isn't an easy feat either as it's on the top of a 121-meter-tall building. 

The water is recycled from an underground storage system, and the downpour is powered by four 185-kilowatt water pumps, meaning the water pumping comes at the heavy cost of about 800 yuan (About 116 U.S. dollars) per hour.

Where: Weifang City, Shandong Province, East China

Fun fact: Standing 142.52 meters tall – 10 meters taller than London eye – this impressive hollow structure on the shore of the Bohai Sea set the Guinness world record of the world's tallest spokeless Ferris wheel.

Instead of rotating, the wheel itself remains stationary and acts more like a track for the cabins to slide along.

Where: Shanghai, East China

Fun fact: This 19-storey five-star hotel which was built nearly 100 meters below the ground was constructed on a site that was intended to be a waste landfill. It has instead been engineered as the world's lowest skyscraper, or more precisely, an "Earth scraper."

By simply going for a view of the giant pit, you can now visit the land "down under" without going to Australia! How much does it cost per night? At around 600 U.S. dollars for one night, unlike the height, the cost is pretty steep.

Fun fact: Face, voice, gestures and facial expressions of the world's first AI news anchors were modeled on human anchors working in China's state-run news agency Xinhua.

Developed by Xinhua and the Chinese search engine, Sogou, the AI anchors made their debut during the fifth World Internet Conference in November with the claim of being able to deliver the news with the same impact as their human counterparts, only they won't need a break and can work at any time of the day. As some Chinese netizens say, it looks like the news industry is facing some major high tech disruption.