Wender·Vista
Bailong Elevator
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tilePeople's Republic of China
on a sandstone cliff in Zhangjiajie, Hunan

Bailong Elevator

— — the cliff that learned to carry people up.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A glass-and-steel elevator bolted to the side of a quartz-sandstone cliff in the Wulingyuan scenic area, lifting visitors more than 300 metres in under two minutes. The pillars of stone outside the window are the kind that made the region famous: tall, narrow, half-wrapped in cloud most mornings. The line at the base moves quickly. The view at the top is the one the inkwash painters have been keeping. — from the studio

from the studio
Bailong Elevator
— bring it home

Bailong Elevator, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Bailong Elevator

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

The Bailong Elevator, the "Hundred Dragons Elevator," is a glass-walled outdoor lift built into a cliff face in the Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area near Zhangjiajie, in the northwest of Hunan Province. Opened to the public in 2002, it rises 326 metres in three double-deck cars and was certified by Guinness as the tallest outdoor lift in the world. Wulingyuan was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 for its forest of quartz-sandstone pillars.

— the stone

The cliff the elevator climbs is part of the same quartz-sandstone formation that gives Wulingyuan its more than 3,000 narrow pillars and spires, some standing over 200 metres tall. The rock was laid down in the Devonian and uplifted and weathered into vertical columns over tens of millions of years. The Avatar Hallelujah Mountain, renamed in 2010 after the film, is one of these pillars and lies on the plateau the elevator delivers visitors to.

— informed by UNESCO — Wulingyuan
— the visit

The elevator runs daily from roughly 07:00 to 19:00 in peak season, with a separate ticket charged on top of the Wulingyuan park entry. Each car holds about 50 passengers and the ride takes around 88 seconds, with the lower two-thirds inside a shaft cut into the cliff and the upper third running as glass-walled cars outside the rock. Queues at the base can run more than an hour through summer and the October national holiday week.

— where
People's Republic of China · Wulingyuan District, Zhangjiajie, Hunan
— within
Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area
— position
29.3563° N · 110.4525° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
1 km W
Avatar Hallelujah Mountain
sandstone pillar
6 km N
Tianzi Mountain
viewpoint plateau
1 km W
Yuanjiajie
summit area
8 km SW
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
national park
N
Bailong Elevator
Avatar Hallelujah Mountain
Tianzi Mountain
Yuanjiajie
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Bailong Elevator — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

The elevator is in the Wulingyuan Scenic Area near Zhangjiajie, in the northwest of Hunan Province, China. It connects the canyon floor below Yuanjiajie to the plateau above.

The Bailong Elevator rises 326 metres in total, with the lower section running inside a shaft cut into the cliff and the upper section running as glass-walled cars outside the rock face.

Construction began in 1999 and the elevator opened to the public in 2002. It was certified by Guinness as the tallest outdoor lift in the world and remains one of the most-used attractions in Wulingyuan.

A single ascent takes about 88 seconds. Each car holds roughly 50 passengers, and three double-deck cars run in parallel, which keeps throughput high through the busy summer and autumn seasons.

Yes. Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 for its forest of more than 3,000 quartz-sandstone pillars, some standing over 200 metres tall.

It is one of the sandstone pillars on the Yuanjiajie plateau, renamed in 2010 after the floating mountains in the film Avatar drew on the Wulingyuan landscape. It sits a short walk from the upper elevator station.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. For a traveller who rode the elevator and walked the Yuanjiajie plateau, the tile names the cliff and the pillars rather than relying on a stock skyline shot. A Small or Medium carries well as a returning-home gift.

The grey-green and stone palette with stained-glass linework settles into modern Asian, mountain-modern, and warm-minimalist rooms. It also reads well alongside ink-on-paper scrolls, dark walnut, and brushed steel.

Yes. The current modern Asian direction leans on inkwash greys, soft greens, and one anchoring piece of named-place art instead of generic mountain prints. The Bailong tile carries that palette honestly.

Above a standard sofa or console, a single Large reads cleanly from across the room. For a wider wall, a 4-tile Mural anchors the space, and a 9-tile Mural turns it into the room's centre.

Yes, in either the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and handle humidity, which makes them appropriate for backsplashes, shower surrounds, and powder rooms.

A soft microfibre cloth with plain water is all that is needed. The colour is infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, so the image will not fade or wipe off with normal household cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to the studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. The work is not licensed from a stock library and is not reproduced for any other brand.

— if this one stayed with you

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