This mind-bending road network in China looks like something out of a sci-fi

The Guiyang Qianchun Interchange in Guizhou, China, has been leaving drivers and internet users alike absolutely stunned.

With its twisting layers of roads stacked high above the city, it looks more like a roller coaster or a scene from a sci-fi movie than a real highway.

Videos and photos of the interchange have gone viral, with commenters comparing it to theme park rides and even joking about architects being ‘high’ when they designed it.

But behind the internet humor lies a seriously impressive piece of engineering that shows just how creative modern infrastructure can be.

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The Guizhou province has a mountainous landscape

Located in Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province, the Qianchun Interchange is one of the largest and most complex road junctions in China.

Opened in 2017, it took more than eight years to design and build, and cost billions of yuan to complete.

The interchange isn’t just for show, either.

It was built to handle the region’s rapidly growing traffic and to connect the multiple highways that pass through the mountainous landscape.

After all, this is the same region in China where a mountain was cut in half in order to build a highway, so the area really doesn’t have the best terrain to work with.

With Guizhou’s steep terrain making road building a serious challenge, engineers had to come up with a vertical, multi-layered solution.

And what a solution it is.

The Guiyang Qianchun Interchange features a dizzying five stacked levels, 11 ramps, and 8 major directions of traffic flow.

If you printed out the full road map, it would look like a tangled knot, but for local drivers, it’s an everyday reality.

At its highest point, the interchange reaches about 55 meters (180 feet) above ground, which is roughly the height of a 20-story building.

China is no stranger to such massive infrastructure projects

Of course, it hasn’t escaped the internet’s attention.

One popular comment read:

“Just because I do this in a city builder game does not mean somebody should do this in real life.”

Others joked about it resembling a Six Flags ride or said trying to follow the paths in a video gave them a headache.

Despite the jokes, the interchange has been praised for helping reduce congestion and improving travel times in Guiyang.

That’s pretty important, given that the worst traffic jam in history lasted for 12 entire days, and it was in China.

To combat such traffic jams, China has introduced several novel solutions, one of which is surprisingly simple.

However, sometimes, no amount of clever tricks is enough, and massive infrastructure projects like the Qianchun Interchange are necessary.

While it might look like chaos from above, the roads are clearly marked and surprisingly easy to navigate once you’re on them.

So, while outsiders see a mind-bending maze, locals see efficiency in motion, which is proof that sometimes the wildest ideas from city-builder games can actually work in the real world.

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