the sky’s no limit

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Wandering the streets of my adopted home Beijing， I often find myself imagining what the city will look like 50 years from now.

Will we be encased in a pollution-beating bubble？ Can the second ring road be transformed into a green belt of urban parkland？ Or could the capital simply revert to the low-rise hutong courtyards of old， eschewing the need for modern construction？

Perhaps that last option is the least likely， as it’s evidently clear that China doesn’t just want to catch up with the planet’s most modern metropolises it wants to shoot so far ahead it will leave the rest of the world resembling a Neanderthal’s cave. There’s money to spend maybe even flaunt so urban planners are deciding that the bigger， the taller and the more outlandishly extravagant， the better.

In the last year I’ve read about plans to build the world’s tallest building in Changsha， Hunan Province at 839 meters. （Originally slated at three months construction time a blistering pace of over two floors per day.） Chengdu is now the host of the world’s biggest building with its own artificial sun， naturally. And then I read reports of a “topping out” ceremony： the highest brick of the Shanghai Tower， which is still under construction， was put in place at 632 meters.

It seems the answer to my musings is right in front of or should that be above my eyes. In 50 years， the Middle Kingdom will be within touching distance of the heavens. Even now， China is home to 60 of the world’s 100 tallest buildings， so fast-forward half a century and visions of vast forests of steel and glass casting shadows over every inch of Beijing tarmac will surely be a reality.

So it was fitting， then， that this year should see a Vertical Marathon hosted in Beijing for the first time. This kind of marathon （in case you were wondering） is a race straight up the staircase of a skyscraper. Originating in the United States， they now take place at some of the world’s most recognizable buildings， such as the Empire State and Taipei 101.

Sensing an opportunity to get intimate with these incredible feats of engineering （and add an extra dimension to my 2D wanderings）， I signed up.

Standing on the start line on race day stair 1 of the China World Summit Wing’s 2，041 I bantered with the news crews covering the event， and contemplated the climb ahead. Was this seemingly light-hearted kind of sporting event （if it can be called that） indicative of our urban landscape’s upgrade？

In fact， could this herald the start of a new kind of inner-city exercise？ Will bad air and crowded streets put paid to my days of outdoor jogging as I find myself running laps of pollution-free shopping malls？

Nineteen minutes later I had crossed the finish line on the summit， which was 84 floors up on the helipad. I tried my best to take in the incredible views while not keeling over from exhaustion. An experienced racer told me that 19 minutes was “quite a good time”. That’s“good” as in the exact opposite of “bad，” and although he didn’t express it in quite so many words “good” as in “for a first timer that’s so quick that with a bit of training you could be pro in no time”.

Despite the accolades， halfway up I felt sufficient appreciation of the structure had been attained， and was ready to take the elevator for the remaining few floors. （On that note， if it takes 20 minutes to jog up 300 meters of stairs， I sincerely hope the elevators are powercutproof for the top floor inhabitants of the 800m Changsha Sky Tower.）

Back to the “race” and after a brief pause to regain my composure， I dug deep to reach the top， spurred on by that inherent human desire to surmount any obstacle （and not wanting to be beaten by my friend， of course）. When we’ve conquered mountains high and oceans deep， we have to look elsewhere for new endeavors including our own sky-scraping creations， it would seem. Just like， I suppose， if you can build a skyscraper 100 stories high， why not build one 101 high？

There must surely be a myriad of reasons why China needs to pace itself with this sudden explosion of development， yet I would have to hide my disappointment should this cityscape stop evolving.