China
22:22, 20-Jan-2018
Chongqing building with 24 floors and no elevator goes viral
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Can you imagine climbing the stairs to the 24th floor of your apartment building? Well, that's a daily routine for some residents in Chongqing Municipality.
A recent video clip showing residential buildings without elevators in southwest China has received hundreds of thousands of views online.
On Saturday, the neighborhood was trending on social media across the country, with some netizens worried that the stairs would exhaust them.
“I will be weak and limp by halfway,” said Weibo user Sheshouzuo.
“What if I got lost in the puzzling stairs?” said another user, Jiajianchengchu.
Others said they wanted to take the demanding challenge.
“Wow! I want to give climbing it a shot,” commented Maxiaoduoduo.
The buildings in the neighborhood are linked with passageways. /Slownews Photo
The buildings in the neighborhood are linked with passageways. /Slownews Photo
Despite the excitement online, to local residents, it's just another illustration of how marvelous the city's buildings can be.
Along with many other buildings, the six buildings in the Baixiangju neighborhood sit on a hill in the mountainous city.
The buildings are linked by skywalks. One of the buildings has three exits on different floors along the sloping hillside, allowing residents to exit directly onto the street.
There is an exit on the 10th floor of this building, allowing direct access to the street. /Slownews Photo
There is an exit on the 10th floor of this building, allowing direct access to the street. /Slownews Photo
“They were built in the 1990s,” resident Hu Xiangui told Chongqing Morning News.
Elevators were not extensively introduced in China until around 1997.
“At first I was so tired that my leg shook a lot when I was climbing the stairs,” said Mrs. Cai who has lived in the building for eight years. “But I found it was okay after I got used to it.”
The neighborhood has become popular thanks to the silver screen. “It's featured in five to six movies every year,” said Mr. Cai, another resident.
An apartment building in Chongqing has been built with a train running through it. /People.cn Photo
An apartment building in Chongqing has been built with a train running through it. /People.cn Photo
One of the movies, "Chongqing Hot Pot," was released in 2016 and has grossed 58.4 million US dollars worldwide.
The building with a road on its roof and the one with a transit stop inside it have also made headlines, according to news reports.
Pictures of a building with a road on its roof have gone viral on Chinese social media. /Cqnews.net Photo
Pictures of a building with a road on its roof have gone viral on Chinese social media. /Cqnews.net Photo