The Chongquing Cable Car. Image from Foreign Policy.
Somehow this one seems to have slipped under our collective radar:
Nick sends us a link to an urban cable transit system in Chongqing, China. Seems like an old Aerial Tram system with scant details.
Since The Gondola Project readers have been so good at drumming up information on little known systems, maybe you all would like to take a crack at this one . . .
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/26557836@N07/ (the city got two cable cars. That is the other one.)
here is a map showing the cities infrastructure: http://www.chinatouristmaps.com/assets/images/travelmap/Transportation-Map-of-Chongqing-City.jpg
Chongqing represents a rarity in China. Unlike all the other cities in China Chongqing is splitted into two almost equal and lively parts. Devided by the Yangtze river an innercity connection is (was) important.
When I showed a friend of mine the photos he really was suprised. Back in the eighties when he was there cables were all over the river. And not only used by cable cars, also for smaller jobs like transportation of goods and for communication.
Later on bridges were built and those connections were cut. (I tried to find pictures of that situation but all I got were pretty new ones)
So right now, as everywhere in China, it is easier to grab a moped taxi or a real car and get over to the other side.
But take a look at the road infrastructure. Like one giant concrete rollercoaster.
A little background information: the municipality of Chongqing has a population of 31.4 million, which makes it the worlds largest municipality by area (source: wikipedia) – and what people coming from there use to say: the world’s biggest city.
But back in the days when the city was much smaller you mainly got two options. Use the boat or go by cable. By boat you would have had additionally to climb the hill in the end.
So caused by the topographical situation using cable car systems seems to have been a very rational and cheap solution for transportation. Maybe even the only one.