Imagine reaching the mountain's summit, gazing upon a breathtaking vista that leaves you awestruck. Yet, what if you could savor this majestic panorama without toiling and perspiring profusely?
In Zhejiang Province, China, they've introduced colossal escalators that whisk you up the mountains, ensuring an effortless ascent.
From Oddity Central:
Tour operators in China’s Zhejiang Province have installed massive escalators on mountains to help tourists gain access to the best views with virtually no effort. Scenic scots that were once only accessible by hiking on precarious trails are now available to anyone willing to ride one of these escalators for a few seconds, minutes at most. For example, Tanyu Mountain, in Zhejiang’s Chun’an county, has an altitude of only 350 meters, but due to the precarious relief, tourists have to walk three mountains around the mountain in order to reach the summit, making it inaccessible to the elderly and young children. But thanks, to the new escalator, anyone can now reach the top of Tanyu Mountain with virtually no effort.
“The original purpose for us to build this elevator is to solve the traffic problem in climbing the mountain,” a worker who helped install the giant escalator said. “In the beginning, we considered building a cableway. However, given cableway’s limited transportation capability and high-security risk, the escalator is relatively safer and has a high transportation capability, which can satiety the needs of the scenic area.”
Although the mountain escalators make sense from an accessibility standpoint, there are many who find them a nuisance rather than a boon. Hiking enthusiasts think that such contraptions take the joy out of the entire mountain experience because they require no physical effort.
There are clearly two distinct camps when it comes to this decision. One group wholeheartedly backs this new technology, emphasizing its potential to benefit physically capable hikers by granting them access to unimaginable sights.
On the flip side, another camp vehemently opposes the idea of sacrificing pristine natural beauty in pursuit of profit and commercialization.
So, which camp do you align with? Share your thoughts in the comments!
