Central Mid-Levels Escalators, Hong Kong

You don’t need to hike a mountain to climb Hong Kong Island — the Central–Mid-Levels Escalators will do the work for you. This system is the longest covered outdoor escalator network in the world. Stretching over eight hundred meters and rising more than one hundred and thirty-five meters from bottom to top, it was completed in 1993 to provide a smoother commute between the Western and Central Districts on Hong Kong Island.

Much of Hong Kong Island is steep and hilly, making it challenging for residents and visitors to move easily up and down the slopes. This terrain has led the city to adopt a number of unusual and innovative transport solutions, designed to make daily life more accessible for everyone. Passing through a series of narrow streets and elevated walkways, the system links Des Voeux Road in Central with Conduit Road in the Mid-Levels. It carries more than 50,000 people each day.

A fun detail is that the escalators don’t run in the same direction all day. Each morning they flow downhill to help commuters reach Central, and around 10 am they switch to an uphill climb for the rest of the day. Locals also treat the escalator route as a kind of moving walkway between cafes, bars and small shops, making it one of the easiest ways to explore the surrounding neighborhoods.