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One of the most awaited attractions in China this year and the highest of such kind in Western China, the Exploration Deck is the star feature of Raffles City Chongqing’s The Crystal sky bridge.
CapitaLand’s 250-metre-high Exploration Deck Viewing Gallery (Exploration Deck) at Raffles City Chongqing in China received an enthusiastic response from the public during its opening last weekend, announced the developer on Friday (5 June).
One of the most awaited attractions in China this year and the highest of such kind in Western China, the Exploration Deck is the star feature of Raffles City Chongqing’s The Crystal sky bridge.
In a release, CapitaLand revealed that only 3,000 tickets are made available daily as part of crowd management measures. The Exploration Deck’s opening weekend saw almost all tickets snapped up.
Visitors to the glass-bottomed deck were not only treated to a 270-degree view of Chongqing’s skyline, they also enjoyed walking “mid-air” with views of Yangtze River’s brown water merging with Jialing River’s blue water below their feet.
Visitors started their journey at the deck with an exploration-themed exhibition, which is a collaboration with National Geographic, at Level 1. Thereafter, they took a 52-second ride at an express elevator to reach Level 47, where “visitors are transported to a futuristic world that imagines life on planet Mars”.
“At the end of the exhibition, visitors enter a tranquil pocket park before stepping onto an open-air sky deck with see-through glass floor and exhilarating views,” said CapitaLand.
The Exploration Deck forms part of The Crystal, an enclosed sky bridge that is linked to six of the eight skyscrapers at Raffles City Chongqing – four 250-metre tall towers at its base and two skyscrapers by cantilever bridges. This made The Crystal the world’s highest sky bridge connecting the most number of skyscrapers.
Aside from the Exploration Deck, The Crystal also features a members-only clubhouse, The Private Club, which comes with two swimming pools as well as a vast array of bars and restaurants at the Sky Garden, which is set to open in Q3 2020.
CapitaLand noted that erecting The Crystal was an engineering feat that took around a year, beginning from end-2017.
“The Crystal is made up of a continuous steel structure weighing 12,000 tons and enclosed with a ring comprising about 3,000 pieces of glass panels and close to 5,000 aluminium panels,” it said.
“Hoisting the three middle steel segments of The Crystal – each weighing up to 1,100 tons – to the designated height of 250 metres marked a world first,” it added.
Singapore’s and CapitaLand’s single biggest development in China, Raffles City Chongqing spans 1.12 million sq m, featuring a shopping mall, Grade A office spaces, residential apartments, InterContinental Raffles City Chongqing hotel and Ascott Raffles City Chongqing serviced residence.
“A vertically-built riverfront urban district, Raffles City Chongqing is a megastructure that took seven years to complete and The Crystal sky bridge is its key attraction. We are therefore heartened that the Exploration Deck, which is the first component of The Crystal sky bridge to be unveiled to the public, has been well-received,” said Lucas Loh, President, China, CapitaLand Group
“The Exploration Deck is the first major attraction to launch in Chongqing since the lifting of the country’s nationwide lockdown and the public’s enthusiastic response is yet another encouraging sign of recovery in consumer sentiment.”
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Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg