Chongqing's municipal government plans to add another ambitious landmark to the city - what it claims will be the world's tallest lighthouse.
Bi Fangquan, director of the local bureau of the Yangtze River Administration of Navigational Affairs, told Xinhua it would build the structure on the riverbank for an estimated 10 million yuan (HK$11.4 million).
The announcement sparked a furore in Chongqing because two similar, unfinished sightseeing towers in the city have been demolished in the past year because of a lack of funding.
Mr Bi said the bureau proposed the project in May and the plan was undergoing a feasibility study. Although the height and exterior design of the tower had yet to be finalised, one thing was certain: if completed, the building would be the tallest of its kind in the world.
The Lighthouse of Alexandria, built in 200BC, is thought to have been 150 metres high, and the current record is held by the 106-metre Yokohama Marine Tower in Japan.
Mr Bi said there would be a lift taking tourists to the top, where they would have a bird's-eye view of the biggest metropolis in the western mainland and its unique stairways.