MOTORISTS in China are being driven round the bend on what’s been dubbed the world’s most complicated road.
Opened in 2017, the Huangjuewan Interchange in Chongqing, China, has gone viral, sparking both panic and awe from individuals across social media.
GettyDrivers in China face the most complicated road in the world[/caption]
AlamyThe 12-story-high Huangjuewan Interchange is in Chongqing, China[/caption]
GettyIt features 15 ramps and 20 junctions[/caption]
The 12-storey tangle of tarmac features 15 ramps, 20 junctions, and enough twists and turns to drive anyone crazy.
One user summed it up perfectly: “You can visit, but you can never leave.”
Some even joked it was enough to make any sat-nav system lose its mind.
“My GPS told me: go where you want and leave me alone!”
Stretching over 10 miles (16.4 km), the labyrinth was originally designed to link the city of Chongqing with its airport and a major expressway.
However, it’s mind-boggling layout has made it a global talking point.
When visiting China 2019 with The Grand Tour, iconic petrol-head Jeremy Clarkson remarked that the country’s road system was “fast becoming the eighth wonder of the world”, and it’s not hard to see why.
China is already home to the famous Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge, which, at 34 miles long, is the world’s longest sea crossing.
Furthermore, according to The Business Standard, as of the end of 2023, China boasts more than 100,000 miles of motorways – more than any other country in the world.
A staggering achievement, especially when considering the country had no motorways at all in 1988.
However, in Chongqing, the Huangjuewan Interchange simply serves as another landmark in a city that’s become a symbol of innovation.
The municipality has previously been described as a “planning and engineering aberration.”
Skyscrapers are often connected to each other using bridges and even rooftop parks, with schools and cultural centres built on upper levels of the city.
One local said: “In Chongqing, the ground floor could be on the 1st, 5th, or 10th floor, depending on which side you enter from.”
GettyOne social media user quipped: ‘You can visit, but you can never leave’[/caption]
AlamyIt stretches over 10 miles[/caption]
That might sound bizarre, but there’s a good reason for it.
Chongqing’s dramatic landscape, made up of steep hills, cliffs, and deep river valleys, means the ground level can change by hundreds of metres in a single block.
As a result, buildings and roads are often built in wild and unconventional ways.
With a population of approximately 32 million, the city is also the construction site for the new “land-based Suez Canal” – an ambitious overland rail network designed to create a more efficient trade route between China and Europe.
The city’s rail hub plays a key role in Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which already connects about 60 Chinese cities to over 50 across Europe, forging a new Silk Road for the 21st century.
And yet, for all its ambition and innovation, it’s perhaps the dizzying loops of Huangjuewan Interchange that best capture the spirit of Chongqing: bold, chaotic, and utterly unlike anywhere else on Earth.
So, next time you get stuck on a roundabout, just be grateful you’re not in Chongqing.
Getty – ContributorA famous train line runs through an apartment block in the city[/caption]
Shutterstock EditorialThe city of Chongqing pictured at night[/caption]