en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Huangshan East Sea Ropeway, designed by China ENFI Engineering Corporation, has been officially completed. This 6,638-meter-long passenger ropeway with a vertical drop of 1,197 meters is another "sky road" built by the company for the Huangshan Scenic Area.
In 1984, commissioned by the China National Tourism Administration, China ENFI, as one of the earliest professional institutions in China with experience in preliminary planning and design of mountain-type passenger ropeways, conducted a survey in Huangshan and proposed a construction plan featuring three ropeways arranged in a "Y" shape. Subsequently, the Cloud Valley, Jade Screen, and Taiping ropeways, as well as the West Sea funicular, were built one after another, making Huangshan a benchmark for ropeway construction in China's mountain scenic areas and the birthplace of domestic mountain sightseeing transportation standardization.
In 2016, the Huangshan East Sea Ropeway project was launched, with China ENFI tasked with improving the ropeway network across the entire Huangshan area and supplementing the tourism infrastructure at the East Gate. The lower station of the ropeway directly connects to the East Huangshan International Resort Town, turning the planning concept of "sightseeing on the mountain, accommodation at the foot" into reality. According to project chief designer Liu Xiaogui, based on a study of Huangshan's cultural imagery, China ENFI proposed a spatial narrative of three stations in a realm of transformation: the lower station is designed with the concept of "Ink Wash Huangshan"; the middle station is located beneath Jiutian Peak at an elevation of 1,495 meters; and the upper station is situated at the Eighteen Arhats Peak, with the station building nestled below the summit rather than perched on top.
The East Sea Ropeway spans 6,638 meters in length, with a vertical drop of 1,197 meters, a one-way capacity of 2,100 persons per hour, and a maximum tower height of 61.58 meters. The owner proposed the requirements, China ENFI carried out the planning, and equipment company Doppelmayr provided technical support. The three parties jointly pioneered the dual-wheel direct-drive technology. The middle station is located at Jiutian Peak, with complex terrain and no road access. The nearly 20-ton direct-drive motor required a split design, separate transportation, and on-site assembly—a global first. For the steel cable with a diameter of 64 mm, a total length of 14,000 meters, and a weight of 220 tons, the project pioneered the use of a custom-designed domestic hydraulic winch for cable deployment.
The project was the first in China to introduce the concept of "comprehensive rescue," equipped with multiple backup systems and an automatic bearing switching system, with each tower featuring a deropement reset tool kit. Across the 31 towers, a total of 16 sets of horizontal rescue equipment (5 of which are self-propelled) have been installed, achieving a globally leading scale. By establishing a three-dimensional rescue system, the project has shifted from passive rescue to proactive prevention and control.
In terms of ecological protection, the project adhered to the principles of preserving ancient and rare trees on site, avoiding ecologically sensitive areas for tower placement, and designing station buildings to conform to the mountain terrain, integrating the 44-square-kilometer East Sea sightseeing area into the overall tourism landscape of Huangshan. China ENFI stated that it will continue to drive the development of ropeway engineering toward greater safety, intelligence, and integration through technological innovation.
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