If you thought constructing the world’s tallest tower was every architects dream, you were wrong. In China, they’re building a groundscraper, almost completely below the surface.

From the article on Architizer:

The latest in this trend, the Intercontinental Shimao Shanghai Wonderland, has just broken ground in an abandoned quarry at the foot of Tianmashan Mountain, some 45 kilometres southwest of the city center. Shanghai Shimao Property Group, the developers behind the project, worked with the British engineering firm Atkins to design the 380-room luxury hotel as part of a 428,000 square-meter theme park. The 19-storey structure will be grafted onto the side of the 100-meter pit, with 16 floors burrowing down towards the deep quarry floor.

This is a monumental megastructure and a grandiose project. Each of the hotel rooms is expected to run at a rate of $320 per night. You can start to schedule your trip there, the hotel is scheduled to open in late 2014 to early 2015.