Man spent six years building ‘secret mountaintop mansion’ on top of skyscraper
You can only get away with illegal building works for so long – especially on top of a skyscraper secret mountaintop mansion.
We all need a project to focus on sometimes, right? It can be helpful to have a long-term aim in mind when you’re going about daily life, to give you a sense of purpose.
It’s not clear whether that was the motivation behind one man’s huge project to turn the top of his residential tower block into a sort of mountain base.
Either way, though, Professor Zhang Lin was a resident of the block in Beijing, China, and reportedly spent some six years secretly working on a fairly unbelievable rooftop complex, full of rock walls and extensive nooks and crannies, before anyone really cottoned on to what he was doing.Play
In fact, other residents only started to get really suspicious when the huge amount of building work started to cause leaks and cracks further down in the building because of the strain the extra weight was generating.
This weight was so significant that Zhang Lin had to add metal supports to the side of his mountain base, to keep it from any risk of collapse.
The base was roughly the size of two basketball courts in terms of square footage, and was full of greenery and shrubs, along with a swimming pool for relaxing in.
It also had multiple levels and various terraces and seating areas to relax in with a skyline view of Beijing around it – it even had a small vineyard.
Again, as far as anyone’s been able to establish, Zhang Lin built this whole thing without anyone realizing it, and by secretly hauling up materials and tools in the building’s elevator (which caused suspiciously long waiting times for other people while he loaded and unloaded it).
Residents started to cotton on over time, and seemingly complained about the noise and structural issues at the top of the building for a few years before anyone intervened.
When the Chinese police were finally made properly aware in the early 2010s, their investigation didn’t take long to establish that there was indeed illegal construction on top of the building, and they ordered Zhang Lin to take it down completely within two weeks.
As demanded, a few days later workers started dismantling the base, although the process has apparently dragged on for a few years since it was so complex a structure.
From the sounds of it, though, the days of rooftop mountain base parties were soon over for Zhang Lin and his friends, and there’s potentially a lesson to be learnt. You might get away with some exciting illegal construction for a while, but it seems like you’re likely to eventually get caught and be forced to go back to square one – perhaps planning permission is worth the work after all.Featured Image Credit: Science Channel/YouTube
Updated 10:50 29 May 2024 GMT+1Published 10:51 29 May 2024 GMT+1
Footage of Chinese skyscraper home to the world’s biggest man-made waterfall has everyone saying the same thing
Sometimes even something impressive can be a bit silly.
We’ve seen a lot of things in our time, but a waterfall gushing down the side of a skyscraper? Now that’s definitely something new.
The Liebian International Building in Guiyang, China, is some 121 meters tall, with an enormous water feature flowing 108 meters to the ground.
It’s one of the largest artificial waterfalls in the world – and it might be the biggest non-tiered man-made waterfall anywhere.Play
The building is otherwise fairly normal to look at, but the reasoning behind the water feature is quite nice. Ludi Industry Group director Cheng Xiamao told The i: “Guiyang is a city of mountains, and with many trees, just like a forest. He [the architect] wanted to create a feeling of water and greenery, even when you are surrounded by skyscrapers.”
You can imagine how the mist of a massive waterfall could indeed mimic that feeling of being in a rainforest, although there’s a slight lack of greenery around the building’s footprint to back that up.
Still, the amazing water feature has gone viral a few times in recent years, including a post skyrocketing up the Reddit rankings in the last day or so.https://embed.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/1d2hrb0/this_360_foottall_building_in_the_city_of_guiyang/?embed=true&ref_source=embed&ref=share&utm_medium=widgets&utm_source=embedv2&utm_term=23&utm_name=post_embed&embed_host_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.uniladtech.com%2Fsocial-media%2Fskyscraper-biggest-manmade-waterfall-in-world-469198-20240529
It shows a video of the water feature in action from a few angles, and has provoked a whole bunch of discussion about it in the comments underneath.
One really high-ranking comment, with some 2,000-plus upvotes of its own, comprises someone doing the sums on just how much water the feature would use:
“185kW x 4 = 740kW
360ft = 110m
110m x 9.81 J/kg = 1080 J/kg
740,000 W / 1080 J/kg = 685 kg/a
685 liters of water per second.”
That’s a huge amount of water, if it’s accurate, and perhaps explains why the waterfall isn’t reportedly on all the time, since it’s really expensive to operate.
This mathematical comment is still more generous than most, though, since it sticks to just a calculation – many people in the thread are being more sarcastic, with the top comment having attracted nearly 10,000 upvotes; it reads: “They were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, that they didn’t stop to think if they should.”
This classic quote from Jurassic Park sums up the fact that people think the waterfall, while gobsmacking, is basically pointless and potentially a waste of money. Another comment agrees, putting it more simply: “Damn that’s stupid”.Featured Image Credit: u/prolific_ideas/Reddit / Getty
Published 16:24 24 Feb 2025 GMT
YouTuber flies spy plane built in secret 70,000 feet to the edge of space
This particular plane played a key role in the Cold War
One aerospace enthusiast on YouTube has taken the next step by flying a secret US spy plane around 70,000 feet above Earth, seeing the edges of space in an aircraft that is over 70 years old.
You’d be almost always right in assuming that space travel is reserved for astronauts, as from the early Russian cosmonaut expeditions to recent ‘stranded’ missions, you’d typically need a rocket to reach the endless beyond.
What you might not realize though is that the US developed a secret spy plane over 70 years ago that not only was capable of reaching space, but played a key role in the advancement of the Cold War.
The U2 Dragon Lady was initially used during the Cold War to spy on Russian nuclear development, but is still in use today (YouTube/Sam Eckholm)
The Lockheed U-2 Spy Plane, otherwise known as ‘Dragon Lady’, was first approved in 1954, and took flight just a year later.
Its purpose was to allow the United States government to spy on Russian nuclear development, as they estimated that an altitude of around 70,000 feet would avoid any detection.
Unfortunately this wasn’t as successful as they might have hoped, as not only did the Russian government send America a notice indicating that they were aware of the planes, one was actually shot down by a surface-to-air missile, leading to the capture and imprisonment of Francis Gary Powers.
The U-2 has remained in service within the US Air Force and NASA to this day though, and one lucky YouTuber managed to hop in the cockpit and take it for a spin themselves – although the process wasn’t as simple as you might expect.Play
Sam Eckholm had to go through hours of pre-flight training, but the toughest parts were still yet to come. A key aspect of proving that you’re ready to fly the Dragon Lady is to adjust to the space suit, as it can provide an uncomfortable shock.
Eckholm had to pass a several-hour claustrophobia test where he was suited up and sat in a corner to see if he could withstand the uncomfortable experience.
“For me, one of the weirdest sensations in the suit was actually the breathing,” Eckholm explains. “For one, it’s super loud so you’re hearing every single breath you take in and every single breath you let out. Also, at the same time it’s sort of a conscious effort because there’s a little bit of resistance every time you exhale, you have to think about it.”
The suit itself is an essential part of the in-flight experience though, as it prevents a loss in pressurization that would boil your blood and lead to a quick and painful death.
The specialized space suit prevents death once you’re up in the air, and is thus an essential part of the process (YouTube/Sam Eckholm)
Once the training had been passed though Sam was ready to get up into the air, and upon reaching what’s known as the ‘space equivalent zone’ – around 70,000 feet – the views are simply staggering.
“If you look outside you can actually see the curvature of the Earth,” Sam exclaims. “So all the flat Earthers out there, I hate to burst your bubble, but take a look at that.”
Once you’re up in the air you can relax a little bit, enjoying either a spot of liquidized lunch or even jumping into some puzzles to pass the time, but you do also need to be careful of what’s known as the ‘coffin corner’ which can rip the plane’s wings apart if you go too fast.
After the relatively short flight was over though Eckholm could barely contain his excitement:
“If I had to sum up that experience I just had, I’m not sure you can really put it into words. Truly magnificent.”
It’s something that you have to be an expert to achieve, but there’s no doubt that it’s likely one of the most breathtaking things anyone will have the pleasure of doing.Featured Image Credit: Sam Eckholm / YouTube
Published 12:03 27 May 2024 GMT+1
Eerie mystery of world’s tallest abandoned skyscraper left unfinished after 15 years
It’s nearly 600 meters tall – and totally abandoned.
Prudence Wade
Imagine putting all the time and labor into building a skyscraper nearly 600 meters tall, only to then have it abandoned.
It’s not the most auspicious use of any building – but that’s what happened to the Goldin Finance 117 in Tianjin, China.
A fascinating new video from YouTube channel Curious Minds (@TheCuriousMinds1), which looks at interesting phenomenons you might not have heard about and has 13.2K subscribers, has taken a look at the strange history of Goldin Finance. Check it out:Play
According to the video, construction on the tower first started way back in 2008 – by 2015, it finally topped out at a height of 597 meters.
It’s made up of 128 stories above ground, with 117 of them meant to be dedicated to housing, hotel and commercial space.
But this wasn’t the fate of the unfortunate project, with the video saying: “As of today, Goldin Tower remains unfinished and unoccupied.”
According to construction website The B1M, trouble first hit the building early on in the form of the global financial crisis, causing work to be paused in January 2010.
Things reportedly restarted the following year, but June 2015 saw the popping of China’s stock market bubble, which had widespread financial ramifications across the country.
This caused the project to be put on hold yet again, and while it looked like it might restart in 2018, no more movement was seen on the building.
According to The B1M, the tower was even later put up for sale – but no one seemed keen to take it on.
Anadolu / Contributor / Getty
Goldin Finance 117 is now seen as something of a cautionary tale. The tower, along with some other failed megaprojects, apparently contributed to China’s government restricting the construction of skyscrapers over 500 meters tall – to prevent vanity projects being started and never finished.
But China isn’t the only country with mega skyscrapers that are totally abandoned. North Korea is home to the cheerily-named ‘hotel of doom’, AKA Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang.
This pyramid-shaped eyesore is 330 meters tall and dwarfs the city’s skyline – but it’s also totally empty.
Construction on the building first started way back in 1987, and while it’s an 105-storey shell, economic problems mean it’s been beset by difficulties and never fully finished.
And with a nickname like the ‘hotel of doom’, if it ever did open, we’re not sure if anyone would be rushing to check in…Featured Image Credit: Anadolu / Contributor / VCG / Contributor / Getty
World News
Published 12:57 11 Apr 2024 GMT+1
Chilling secret behind completely windowless 29-storey skyscraper in New York
It has enough gas, water and electricity to run independently for two weeks.
Rebekah Jordan
A concrete skyscraper without windows is pretty haunting.
Actor Tom Hanks was the first to spot it, sharing a photo of the dubbed ‘windowless building’ on 33 Thomas Street back in 2017.
‘This is the scariest building I’ve ever seen! WTF goes on inside?’ he tweeted.
Could it be a secret government project? A place for UFO research? Or just a derelict building with no other agenda?
The 550-feet tall building with 29 storeys has puzzled New Yorker onlookers and passer-bys since its completion in 1974.
Luckily, TikToker Eric Guidry has shared the not-so-eery purpose of the building.
It turns out that it’s part of many buildings that have been constructed as part of AT&T’s long lines network.
Wikimedia Commons/Marcin Wichary
And this example on 33 Thomas Street is said to be ‘one of the most secure towers in the world.’
‘So that building in New York, this windowless building in San Francisco, this one in Chicago, this one in Austin and hundreds more buildings placed conspicuously across the country, in very populous locations,’ Guidry added.
‘Before we had digital telephony, the lines on your phones physically connected to the person on the other end’s phone.
‘That meant we need these massive switching hubs.’
According to Guidry, most of those buildings he showed were built in the 1970s or perhaps earlier which means that there weren’t actual operators at the time.
‘And because this machinery didn’t particularly care if there was light or not, they just decided, why add windows?’ the social media user continued.
So there you have it, the lack of windows isn’t to keep anything hidden, it’s more because they’d be pointless if no one was going to be inside.
@tomhanks /X
‘It has enough gas, water and electricity to be able to continue running independently for up to two weeks and is supposed to be able to actually withstand a nuclear blast… within reason.’
Obviously, time have changed now with everything being digitalised. However, it’s still ‘critical for network and internet infrastructure.’
Despite the less exciting explanation, what remains creepy is the story shared by one of the steamfitters who worked there.
The man, remaining anonymous for safety reasons, was responsible for installing wiring and pipes carrying liquids and gases under high pressure along with his son back in the early 2000s.
His son explained that their crew was strictly forbidden to enter certain rooms in the building.
‘There were rooms we couldn’t get into. They specifically told us not to enter, and we couldn’t ask what’s inside or why we can’t go in,’ he said.
Safety reasons or not, you can’t deny the spooky vibes this building gives off.
