Photo: Screenshot from meida reports

A spectacle in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, which appears to show a bus "crashing" through a building and coming to a stop mid-floor, has gone viral online. Local relevant authorities said that the building's safety assessment is lawful and compliant, and the installation was purely designed as a visual feature.

To create a viral tourist attraction, a property management company in Nan'an district, Chongqing, sawed a bus in half, with the front and rear sections mounted atop two separate buildings, thus forming the eye-catching illusion of a bus piercing through buildings, domestic news site gmw.cn reported.

The person in charge of the property said the design inspiration for the check-in spot stemmed from the lyrics "the No.2 bus parked on the eighth floor" from a popular Chinese song, while also drawing on Chongqing's iconic Liziba Station's Line 2, known for subway trains passing through a residential building, according to the report.

Construction of the installation began six months ago and it officially opened to the public in recent months, the report said.

The sight has drawn widespread attention from netizens. In comment sections of related videos, some expressed eagerness to visit the spot, praising its creativity, while other noted that the "eighth floor" mentioned in the lyric refers to a place name rather than the eighth floor. 

Meanwhile, some netizens raised concerns about whether the installation constitutes illegal construction and whether it poses a safety risk.

In response to safety concerns, the property manager said the installation was designed and installed by a professional team and poses no safety risks. 

An official from the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Committee in Nan'an district said, the installation was "made to look this way," and that the building's safety appraisal is lawful and compliant 

Another official from local Urban Management Bureau also confirmed they are aware of the situation and would be dispatched for an on-site inspection. The official added that whether the installation poses safety risks or constitutes illegal construction requires further professional assessment, as the installation is located within the internal area of a cultural and creative park.

Global Times