A five-story tubular slide that whipped up a whirlwind of interest when plans were unveiled on social media earlier this year has finally opened at a shopping mall in Shanghai's Pudong New Area.

The 18.9-meter steel slide at the Shanghai-Hong Kong New World Department Store on Pujian Road gave some of the store's customers a thrill on Monday.

Those brave enough to ride it found they could get from the fifth floor to the ground level in an exhilarating 16 seconds.