Giant 'Ring of Life' Being Constructed in China -- But What For?

Last year, the bizarre structures seen in China's Gobi desert garnered a lot of attention. Other strange structures seen via satellite continue to baffle some. But it's not desert oddities bringing China into the news this time: it's a giant metal ring.

The ring, which was featured in October by The Atlantic in a collection of photos showing "Scenes from 21st Century China," has continued making its rounds on the Internet after the the Chinese blogger Sina Weibo posted more about it. CRIEnglish.com posted the photos curated by Weibo, which is a microblogging site similar to Twitter.

(Image: Sina Weibo via CRIEnglish.com)

(Image: Sina Weibo via CRIEnglish.com)

The 157-meter across metal ring is located in Fushun, which is in China's Liaoning Province. The blog What's on Dalian reported that, according to the Fushun government website, the ring is dubbed the "Ring of Life" and its sole purpose is is for sightseeing.

The ring is composed of 3,000 tons of steel, has 12,000 LED lights and four elevators that will take visitors up.

How much is the architectural giant? According to The Atlantic $16 million.

(H/T: Gizmodo)