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What is the point of this? Chinese web users mock shopping centre’s tiny escalator (which doesn’t even work)

Pictures of (not) moving staircase go viral as social media users wonder why anyone thought it was a good idea in the first place

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The tiny escalator is next to a staircase. Photo: Handout
Charmmy Zhang

One of China’s smallest escalators has gone viral on social media after web users questioned their purpose – especially since no one appears to have felt the need to repair it when it broke down several years ago.

Pictures of the non-moving staircase, located in front of the entrance of a major shopping centre in the southwestern city of Chongqing were widely shared on social media – often with sarcastic comments.

It currently carries a note saying “The escalator is out of service. Do not ride it”, according to Chongqing Morning Post.

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Since there is a staircase alongside it, many web users suggested this was unlikely to be a problem.

“The escalator has been out of operation for several years,” a sanitation worker who was working nearby told the newspaper

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“When the escalator was in service, some people would ride it, probably just for fun.

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