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.
Mankind’s first mission to explore the dark side of the moon: Chang'e-4 lunar probe:
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.
Chang'e-4 successfully entered the lunar orbit on December 12 and is on track to make a soft landing on the moon's far side in January. /VCG Photo
The world's longest sea crossing and sea-based project: The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB):
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.
The world's highest man-made waterfall: Liebian International Building
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.
The unusually-shaped structure is in one of China's fastest-growing regions and had previously gone viral on Chinese social media. /VCG Photo
The world’s tallest ‘centerless’ Ferris wheel: Eye of the Bohai Sea
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.
The design for the metal frame is inspired by the back of a dragon and the rest of the wheel is designed to look like a dragon's ridges. /VCG Photo
Instead of rotating, the wheel itself remains stationary and acts more like a track for the cabins to slide along.
The world’s first pit hotel: The Shimao Quarry Hotel
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."
A night view of the "pit hotel." /VCG Photo
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.
The world’s first artificial intelligence (AI) news anchor
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.