The goddess escalator, approximately 80 stories tall, has brought the city of Wushan in Chongqing to the forefront.

Ask AI · How Can the Goddess Cable Escalator Change Everyday Life for Wushan Residents?

The night view of the Goddess Cable Escalator built along the mountainside. Photo provided by the Publicity Department of the CPC Wushan County Committee

On March 21, as the spring Chongqing-Wushan Three Gorges river cruise continues to heat up, a travel group from Malaysia arrived in Chongqing’s Wushan County to experience the newly popular “internet-famous” attraction—the Goddess Cable Escalator—up close. In a related video report from “Wushan Release,” a female tourist said this was her first time taking an escalator along the riverside; if she could walk up on her own it would be fine, but having an escalator would make things much more convenient.

For tourists, they can choose to climb or not; but for residents who live here, there’s no choice. Li Jinbo, Director of the Urban Construction Department’s Urban Construction Division at the Wushan County Housing and Urban-Rural Development Committee, told The Beijing News that Wushan County’s city is built on the mountainside. The urban space is deep but short, with a large elevation difference and steep slopes. Within a 1,000-meter depth, the relative elevation difference reaches more than 300 meters. The Goddess Avenue connecting the upper and lower towns consists of more than 1,000 steps, and residents climbing up and over slopes often need more than an hour just for one trip, making travel extremely inconvenient.

But after the Goddess Cable Escalator went into operation, residents’ vertical travel time was reduced to about 20 minutes. Zhang Jie, the project负责人 of the Goddess Cable Escalator, told The Beijing News that the project efficiently connects six nearby bus stops, forming a convenient transfer hub. It also seamlessy interfaces with the city’s slow-mobility system through pedestrian overpasses, and—through the overall image of an “aerial corridor”—reconstructs the layout of the city’s three-dimensional transportation system, providing an innovative solution for mountain cities with large elevation-difference transportation planning.

Public information shows that the Goddess Cable Escalator is about 905 meters long and has a vertical elevation gain of 242 meters—equivalent to an 80-story building. It climbs upward layer by layer following the existing mountainside and street-alley layout in Wushan. From far away, it looks like a silver long chain.

“The biggest role is that it truly brings Wushan County’s urban core to the forefront.” Zhou Xiaoyu, deputy director of the Wushan County Culture and Tourism Commission, told The Beijing News. In the past, when tourists came to Wushan, they were mostly drawn to traditional scenic spots such as the Lesser Three Gorges, the Goddess Peak, and Wushan red leaves; the county town was often just a transfer stop. Now, the Goddess Cable Escalator itself has become a new must-see landmark.

More importantly, the Goddess Cable Escalator fully showcases Wushan’s characteristics of “a fusion of city and scenery, an 8D magical county.” Tourists ride the escalator from the riverside straight up to the mountainside; within the three-dimensional space, they “pass through the city,” with “mountains and water and the city first ever fully blending into the same scene,” Zhou Xiaoyu said.

A 15-Minute High-Quality Living Circle

The Goddess Cable Escalator, connecting key nodes such as the government, hospitals, schools, the wharf, commercial districts, and residential congregation areas. Photo provided by the Publicity Department of the CPC Wushan County Committee

“When will I be able to stop climbing stairs?” That is what many people in Wushan used to hope for.

“Stairs” refers to the Goddess Avenue. More than 20 years ago, Wushan County built the Goddess Avenue, using 1,136 steps to connect the upper and lower halves of the town. It links the county people’s government, hospitals, schools, the wharf, commercial districts, and residential communities, directly serving about 50,000 people and solving the county town’s north-south vertical transportation problem. For this reason, the Goddess Avenue became one of the most important transportation routes for residents’ daily travel in Wushan County.

But in a mountainous county town with a large elevation difference, “having a road to walk” and “walking comfortably” are always two different things. For young people with good legs and quick steps, climbing the Goddess Avenue takes time and effort. For elderly people, children, and those who need to commute, get medical care, or handle errands frequently, it means greater additional physical exertion and higher time costs.

According to open reporting, as early as 2003, the Wushan County People’s Government had considered building a convenient passage on the Goddess Avenue. However, due to engineering difficulty and cost constraints, the idea remained on paper for a long time. Still, Li Jinbo said that in recommendations from the county’s National People’s Congress deputies and CPPCC proposals, calls for improving urban transportation have never stopped for years.

Not until 2022, as the urban renewal action continued to advance, Wushan restarted research into improving transportation and mobility for old residential areas within the Gaotang group. It also designated the single stretch of the Goddess Avenue as a key renovation area. Among 12方案 including rail, cogwheel, and electric escalators, it compared repeatedly before finally settling on the electric escalator scheme.

Zhang Jie said this is one of the most difficult projects he has encountered since he entered the industry. The entire escalator has an average slope angle of 40 degrees, and some sections exceed 60 degrees. On such steep slopes, large mechanical equipment is hard to deploy, and a large amount of building materials can only be carried by workers shoulder to hand. At the same time, this is also a main thoroughfare in the county town, with a complex web of underground utility lines and relatively poor geological conditions. For these reasons, his team innovatively adopted a series of technical measures, including three-dimensional geological modeling.

After about 1 year and 7 months of construction, the Goddess Cable Escalator started test operation in mid-February 2026. The main transport system of the Goddess Cable Escalator consists of 21 sets of automatic escalators, 8 elevators (including overpass barrier-free elevators), and 4 moving walkways. Supporting construction includes 2 pedestrian overpasses and 2 cross-line passages. The overall facility’s elevation gain has already exceeded about 112 meters in total length, and the elevation gain of 52.7 meters belongs to the Chongqing Crown Cable Escalator. The overall structure combines a steel structure frame with glass curtain walls, balancing functionality and scenic qualities.

“The significance of the Goddess Cable Escalator lies first in that what used to take a lot of time and effort for up-and-down travel becomes more time-saving and more labor-saving,” Zhang Jie said. After the project is completed, it not only greatly reduces residents’ vertical travel time, but also builds a “15-minute high-quality living circle” covering 60,000 permanent residents by connecting core nodes such as the government, hospitals, schools, wharves, commercial districts, and residential congregation areas.

In addition, the Goddess Cable Escalator also seamlessy links the multi-level terrace slow-mobility networks that previously existed in the area—such as fragmented streets and footpaths, riverside promenades, and park paths—forming an efficient connection across seven horizontal roads, including the Wuxia Road, Chunxiao Road, Jingtan Road, Xiangyun Road, Guangdong Middle Road, Pinghu West Road, and Ningjiang Road. In this way, it constructs a slow-mobility system of “vertical connectivity, horizontal network, and mountains-water-city integration.” “By realizing one-stop solutions for commuting, getting medical care, going to school, and shopping, it genuinely enhances residents’ sense of gain and happiness,” Li Jinbo said.

Zhou Xiaoyu said that if you place the Goddess Cable Escalator within the changes in Wushan over the past one or two years, the clearest thing it shows is that Wushan is undergoing a warmer kind of transformation. More than 20 years ago, building the Goddess Avenue was to give residents in the county town a road to walk—solving the “whether you can get there” problem. Now building the Goddess Cable Escalator is not only about getting through, but also about “getting through comfortably and with dignity”—so elderly people no longer have to struggle with slopes and steps, and students no longer have to rush and gasp just to get to school. That is the warmth of urban development.

A single escalator, pushing Wushan County’s town into the spotlight

The Goddess Cable Escalator, with the functions of overlooking the city, viewing the river, and looking at the mountains. Photo provided by the Publicity Department of the CPC Wushan County Committee

If the Goddess Cable Escalator first solves the “problem of getting through” at the level of city life, then at the level of city image, what it brings is a “change in what people see.”

In the past, whenever outsiders mentioned Wushan, their first reaction was usually the Lesser Three Gorges, the Goddess Peak, and Wushan red leaves—so their focus was more on the scenery of mountains and water. Zhou Xiaoyu introduced that as Wushan baozi, Wushan grilled fish, and the Goddess Cable Escalator all kept going viral, people’s attention increasingly shifted toward Wushan County’s town itself. The biggest role of the Goddess Cable Escalator is to truly “push” the county town to the front. Previously, visitors might have thought Wushan County town was only a transfer station. Now, this “world’s longest outdoor escalator” itself has become a new landmark for visitors to check in.

Zhang Jie said that from the beginning, the Goddess Cable Escalator was not designed solely as a transportation facility. Leveraging the 242-meter elevation difference, it sets up multi-level viewing platforms, forming an urban panorama system for “overlooking the city, viewing the river, and looking at the mountains.” At the same time, it integrates Goddess culture, poetry culture, and immigrant culture into the spatial fabric. Through nodes such as “Light of the Three Gorges,” “Poetry Path,” and “Immigrant Memory Wall,” it creates a cultural narrative chain of “Goddess legends—Three Gorges poetry and paintings—immigrant memory.” In other words, this escalator not only fulfills transportation functions, but also functions as a platform for city presentation, scenic transformation, and cultural expression.

Li Jinbo said that the Goddess Cable Escalator is both a people’s livelihood passageway and a way to increase Wushan tourism’s distinctiveness. Especially when riding at night, it can also be linked with the “Light of the Three Gorges” night scenery project. City lights and the night colors of the gorge intertwine, creating an even more unique experience of turning corners and changing views. This design concept itself also implies that Wushan’s urban renewal over the past one or two years is no longer just about building roads and bridges and filling shortfalls; it is consciously transforming transportation infrastructure into city landscapes and culture-and-tourism scenarios.

From this perspective, the reason the Goddess Cable Escalator is important is not only that it adds a new landmark to Wushan, but also because it, for the first time, fully presents the “beauty of the county town beyond the mountains and water.” It lets the outside world see that Wushan is not only distant mountains and water, but also a county town growing out of the mountains, layered with rises and falls, with everyday bustle and rising fires and lanterns. Here, it is not only suitable to pass by by boat, but also worth stopping, and worth coming in to take a look.

In addition, Li Jinbo said the Goddess Cable Escalator also helps strengthen Wushan’s economic benefits and its capacity to generate “blood”—i.e., to drive sustained development. The project systematically builds diversified ticketing channels that combine online and offline methods, offering differentiated services to both tourists and local residents. Meanwhile, supported by the project’s supporting facilities, it introduces diversified revenue channels such as advertising operations and storefront leasing, forming a virtuous investment cycle. During project construction and operation, it created more than 400 local jobs and revitalized more than 100 storefronts along the street. In addition, commercial vitality along the route has increased significantly, promoting asset appreciation and consumer upgrades and achieving comprehensive benefits from “solving transportation problems” to “benefiting the people through inclusive development.”

Wushan is getting more and more “international style”

The Goddess Cable Escalator as seen from above along the Three Gorges Dragon Ridge. Photo provided by the Publicity Department of the CPC Wushan County Committee

The Goddess Cable Escalator is just a snapshot of changes in Wushan over the past two years. Another change is the Three Gorges Dragon Ridge.

This is a hiking route within Wushan County’s Wensifeng Scenic Area, opened to the public in 2024. Hikers can follow the winding ridge ancient path, ascending all the way to Denglong Peak. Denglong Peak is one of the twelve peaks of the Yangtze Three Gorges, hence the name Three Gorges Dragon Ridge. The route starts at the Wuxia mouth and extends to the top of Denglong Peak, passing attractions such as Wensifeng Viewpoint and the Zhenshui Tower. The total length is 12 kilometers, with cumulative elevation gain of 1,040 meters. Named for climbing along the ridge ancient path, it has drawn relatively high attention among some hiking enthusiasts.

Zhou Xiaoyu said that although the Three Gorges Dragon Ridge and the Goddess Cable Escalator are two different types of engineering projects, their underlying logic is the same: both are redefining “how to enjoy Wushan.” The feature of the Goddess Cable Escalator is the “new perspective,” while the feature of the Three Gorges Dragon Ridge is the “new way to play.” The project’s operator has turned the 4.2-kilometer mountain-climbing walkway into a cultural experience stage blending the real and the virtual.

Walking along the Three Gorges Dragon Ridge, visitors are not only climbing a mountain; it’s also like participating in a game. An AI digital human “Goddess” interacts with visitors for guided tour storytelling, with all kinds of competitive challenge activities. At night, there is also an immersive laser show experience. The Goddess Cable Escalator uses a “super engineering” approach to create visual impact, while the Three Gorges Dragon Ridge uses “outdoor experience” to deliver a sense of participation. “They’re both giving visitors new choices beyond traditional sightseeing,” Zhou Xiaoyu said.

In the past two years, Wushan’s culture and tourism has also seen some obvious changes. “First, the tourists are getting younger,” Zhou Xiaoyu said. Based on visitor demographics, middle-aged and young people have become the absolute core group; especially young adults aged 25 to 34 account for nearly 30%. Different from past tourists who mainly preferred “easy sightseeing,” this group is more drawn to in-depth experiences like hiking, climbing, night tours, and check-ins. During the 2025 red leaf festival, the Three Gorges Dragon Ridge welcomed more than 25,000 visitors in a single day, setting a historical record.

Second, more people are more willing to stay overnight in Wushan. In the past, many tourists would go to the next stop after visiting the Three Gorges. But in these years, the number of overnight visitors has clearly increased. In 2025, overnight visitors grew year-on-year by more than 26%. Meanwhile, Wyndham Hotel (Weijing), InterContinental Huayi Hotel, and others have come into operation one after another. High-end boutique homestays such as the Three Gorges Courtyard and Muya Wushan have also gained popularity. Wushan’s ability to accommodate middle-to-high-end tourists, business teams, and in-depth travelers has improved significantly. Zhou Xiaoyu said, “The supply pattern of ‘you can only stop by, you don’t want to stay’ is changing into ‘it’s worth staying to slowly enjoy.’”

In addition, the number of foreign tourists coming to Wushan is also increasing. According to statistics from Trip.com’s international platform, during the 2025 red leaf festival, Wushan’s inbound tourism volume surged 208% year-on-year, while consumption rose 352%. Many Southeast Asian and Russian tourists come specifically to see the red leaves, which shows that Wushan is increasingly carrying an “international style.”

And judging from recent communication effects, this “international style” is not only reflected in the data. Even before the Goddess Cable Escalator started test operation on February 12, a spokesperson from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mao Ning, shared an English video of the Goddess Cable Escalator on the X platform (formerly Twitter), attracting attention from overseas netizens. As of now, tourists from countries such as the United States, Switzerland, Nigeria, and Malaysia have already traveled to check in.

In Zhou Xiaoyu’s view, another important change in Wushan over the past two years is a shift in tourism content and communication methods. In the past, it was mainly “watching”—watching mountains, watching water, watching red leaves—so visitors were often more like spectators. Now, it’s increasingly become “playing routes, playing experiences, and playing scenarios.” Visitors are not only participants, but also producers of content and communicators. Riding the Goddess Cable Escalator to record a video of passing through the city; walking onto the Three Gorges Dragon Ridge to take a check-in from the ridge; then going at night to see “Light of the Three Gorges”—these new scenarios are also helping Wushan move from being a traditional sightseeing destination to becoming a destination that is participatory, shareable, and worth staying at.

It can be said that Wushan is turning this mountain city into a “Three Gorges harbor city integrating industry, cities, and scenery.” The Goddess Cable Escalator is a snapshot of this shift: one end connects residents’ daily commuting, medical care, schooling, and shopping; the other end connects visitors’ fresh feeling, desire to stay, and impulse to check in for a mountain county town. It not only makes residents’ travel more convenient, but also allows outsiders to see a different side of Wushan “beyond the mountains and water” in a more complete way.

In Wushan, there is a slogan: “Loving fans in Wushan,” meaning that during holidays the whole city goes into action—setting up warm-hearted service stations, promoting flexible law enforcement, and offering free open state-owned parking spaces. “We just want visitors to feel the ‘homecoming’ feeling,” Zhou Xiaoyu said.

The Beijing News reporter: Xiao Longping

Editor: Zheng Weibin

Proofread by: Zhao Lin