The Ring of Life is a 157-metre steel ring structure in Fushun's Xinfu district, opened in 2013 as the centrepiece of a planned development zone. Structurally it is a triumph of engineering — two curved towers supporting an enormous toroidal ring — and architecturally it is one of those buildings that resists any obvious category. It became briefly famous on the internet as an exemplar of Chinese landmark excess, though the internet consensus missed the point: the structure actually works as spectacle, particularly at night when the LED array runs through its colour sequences.
Visitors can take an elevator to viewing platforms within the ring structure itself. The surrounding development zone is still partially incomplete, which gives the approach a slightly surreal quality — a vast building with no obvious context. That might be part of its appeal: the Ring of Life feels genuinely unlike anything else, which is more than most buildings can claim.