China's richest village builds £300m hotel taller than Eiffel Tower

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One of China's richest villages has grouped together to build a 328m skyscraper hotel - at a cost of £300 million.

The Longxi International Hotel in the village of Huaxi has been built to celebrate the village's 50th anniversary.

The village, located in east China's Jiangsu province, has become the first rural area in the world to have its own skyscraper.

It is celebrating its growth over 50 years, which has seen a 1960s population of around 1,600 grow to 50,000 today.

A solid gold ox costing £31m greets guests in the 60th floor. Photo: Rex

Former party secretary Wu Renbao is confident that the new hotel will benefit the area, telling the Metro: 'This skyscraper will give us the edge.

'No other village has one, and 3,000 people can work there. The next five years is critical, we are going to go from village to city.'

Money for the project came partly from residents of the village, with 200 households giving £1m each.

It has taken four years to complete the 74-storey hotel, which is now ranked as the 15th highest skyscraper in the world, taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris (324m) and the Chrysler Building in New York (319m).

When it is finished, the Shard in central London - the tallest residential tower in Europe - will still be shorter than the Longxi Hotel.

The 72nd floor is home to the revolving restaurant. Photo: Rex

The hotel boasts 800 suites that can hold 2,000 people, an exhibition hall, a revolving restaurant, and rooftop swimming pools and gardens.

An the 60th floor doesn't just offer amazing views - there's also an ox that has been created from a tonne of gold at a cost of £31 million.

Deputy party chief of the village, Zhou Li, says he hopes the 'symbol of collectivism' will boost tourism and raise living standards for the entire village, which is now under pressure as land resources are becoming limited.

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