The World’s Scariest Trail

If you happen to find yourself in China, and you are feeling adventurous, you might want to check out the Heavenly Stairs at Mt. Hua Shan. It’s a giant stone staircase that leads up the side of the mountain. And if you are still feeling frisky after the climb, you can continue on to the plank path. But you might not want to. Have a look at it.

Crazy, right? There is more to this than the views or the usual ‘because it’s there’. If you do make your way past the plank path, there is a surprise waiting at the top of the mountain. But I won’t spoil it. Check out this post on Viralnova for more pictures and the reveal of what is at the end of the trail.

Paris… in China

Do you like crazy architectural projects? Things like the World islands in Dubai? Or Habitat 67 in Montreal? Well, here’s another one for you. Tianducheng, China, was developed as ‘the Paris of the east’ in 2007, complete with its own copy of the Eiffel Tower. It was reported to be able to house 100,000 residents. There were also plans for a country club, a school, and a hospital.

Unfortunately, these big projects go wrong as often as they go right. Much like the World islands (look at it on Google Maps and marvel at the lack of actual development), Tianducheng never really took off. At last count, there were about 2000 people living there, making it something of a ghost town. Business Insider has a great slideshow of pictures showing the city.

Tianducheng from caspar stracke on Vimeo.

That takes stones!

Check out this penthouse! Now… this would be very cool if an architect had designed it, and it was all part of the plan for the building. Strangely, that is not the case. It seems the owner of the top floor of this high rise in China just decided to create a giant stone fortress on top of the building and his neighbours are not pleased. There have been complaints of cracked walls, leaks, noise, and a general fear (not too far fetched I’d say) that the whole building could collapse. The authorities are now involved (finally?!), and it’s possible that the professor will have to demolish his fortress. At least, that’s what I’m getting from the translated Chinese news story.