I’m fascinated with underground places: New York’s forgotten subway tunnels, the underground city that allegedly lies under the subway in Tokyo, catacombs and bunkers of all kinds. So Viceland’s trip to the underground city beneath Beijing, constructed by Chairman Mao in case of nuclear war, is right up my creepy-ass alley.

Mao\’s Underground City

Mao was nuttier than Grandma’s fruitcake at the end of it all, so an underground city must have seemed like an awesome idea at the time. The war still hasn’t happened, but the tunnels remain, mostly abandoned but occasionally used for storage space or wicked sweet rave parties.

At least the world got some cool photos out of the deal.