Abandoned Chinese nuclear base transformed into tourist attraction

A former top-secret nuclear military plant, which was once used to manufacture plutonium and house thousands of explosives, has been reopened to visitors for the first time.

The underground military plant, located in the mountains of central China, is almost 20km wide, and includes 178 manmade caves and over 130 roads and tunnels.

It includes 18 caverns, the largest of which is about 80 metres high.

The revamped 816 Nuclear Military Plant in Chongqing municipality was commissioned in the 1960s, after Beijing was fearful of an attack by the Soviet Union.

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Hidden in the mountains of Fuling, the facility reportedly was the death place of 100 out of 60,000 engineering soldiers, who participated in the construction of the largest man-made cave in the world.

But in 1984, just before construction finished on the project, work was halted and the facility has never even used.

The area has remained off-limits to foreigners until now, with Chinese nationals being the only ones allowed to tour the facility since 2010.

Now, with some fancy lighting and sound installations, the experience is being advertised by China Tourism as the feeling of being in a science fiction film.

It does have a very Blade Runner feel to it!

"A tour takes three hours.” a spokesperson told China Daily. “Visitors must follow the guide, otherwise they will get lost in this huge maze-like cave."

Yeah, as if we’d be heading down those creepy mazes alone.

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