China’s coaster boom has produced some giants, and few are bigger than Coaster Through the Clouds (云霄飞车) at Nanchang Sunac Land in Jiangxi Province. This Intamin mega coaster pairs a 242-foot structure with a first drop that plunges even farther than the ride is tall — 255.9 feet into below-grade terrain — pushing trains to 84.5 mph across more than 5,100 feet of track. By raw numbers, it stands among the tallest, fastest, and longest coasters ever built in China.
Key Stats
| Height | 242.8 ft (74 m) |
| First drop | 255.9 ft (78 m) at 78° |
| Top speed | 84.5 mph (136 km/h) |
| Length | 5,105 ft (1,556 m) |
| Inversions | 0 |
| Manufacturer / model | Intamin Mega Coaster |
| Opened | May 28, 2016 |
| Park | Nanchang Sunac Land — Nanchang, Jiangxi, China |
A Drop Bigger Than the Ride Itself
Coaster Through the Clouds uses a trick normally reserved for terrain coasters: its first drop dives past ground level into a lower-lying section of the site, so the 78-meter plunge actually exceeds the structure’s 74-meter height. That drop — taken at a 78-degree angle — ranks among the biggest roller coaster drops in the world, and the 136 km/h it generates puts the ride firmly among the fastest coasters on the planet.
The Ride Experience
This is a classic Intamin mega coaster layout: no inversions, just speed and airtime sustained across 1,556 meters of track — enough to place it among the longest roller coasters in the world. After the monster first drop, the train sweeps through a series of towering camelback hills and high-banked turns, each crest delivering the floating negative-g moments that made Intamin’s mega coasters famous. Lap-bar-only trains keep riders feeling exposed the entire way around.
History and Context
The ride opened on May 28, 2016 as the anchor attraction of what was then Nanchang Wanda Park — the Wanda Group’s first major theme park and a headline project in China’s theme-park expansion. After Sunac acquired Wanda’s parks division, the property was renamed Nanchang Sunac Land. Through it all, Coaster Through the Clouds has remained the park’s signature ride and one of the defining hyper-class coasters in the country, frequently cited among the tallest and fastest coasters in China.
FAQ
How big is Coaster Through the Clouds?
The structure stands 242.8 feet (74 meters) tall, but the first drop is even bigger — 255.9 feet (78 meters) — thanks to terrain that falls away below ground level.
How fast is Coaster Through the Clouds?
It reaches a top speed of 84.5 mph (136 km/h) after its first drop, making it one of the fastest roller coasters in China.
Where is Coaster Through the Clouds?
It’s at Nanchang Sunac Land (formerly Nanchang Wanda Park) in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China.
About the photo: no freely licensed photo of Coaster Through the Clouds exists yet — so until one does, here are some actual clouds. Photo: Michael Jastremski via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).