The World’s Biggest Ferris Wheel (For a While at Least…)

by Brett Atkinson on

I was a bit scared of ferris wheels when I was a kid, and actually didn’t go on one until I went to Vienna when I was in my early 20’s. Sad, I know, but since then I’ve made up for lost time by going on mega-wheels like the London Eye.

Now Singapore has announced plans for the world’s biggest ferris wheel. Opening in March 2008 it will be 165 metres high, slightly taller than the 160-metre high Star of Nanchang in Jiangxi, China, and considerably bigger than the 130-metre high London Eye.

Don’t count on the Singapore Flyer being the biggest for long though, because the same developers are looking at opening a 208-metre high circular attraction in time for the Beijing Olympics in August 2008.

I’m actually kind of glad the first ferris wheel I went on was at Vienna ‘s Prater amusement park. The 65-metre wheel played a starring role in one of my favourite movies, the terrific Before Sunrise starring Ethan Hawke and the luminous Julie Delpy.

Thanks to arjuna_zybcho on Flickr for the pic of the Prater.

China Opens 525-foot-high Ferris Wheel

by Karen Walrond on

From Yahoo!News.com:  China has just opened what it claims to be the world’s tallest ferris field in the south of the country.  Called the Star of Nanchang, it opened in a riverside park in the province of Jiangxi. 

As a point of reference, the new wheel is 82 feet taller than the London Eye, which the Guiness Book of World Records currently lists as the tallest ferris wheel.  The Star of Nanchang is currently waiting for its certification by Guinness as the new recordholder.