Sri Lanka surpassed the world record for the tallest artificial Christmas tree despite building delays forcing organizers to prune the structure by almost half. The 73-meter tree, built in Colombo, is 18 metres taller than the current record holder in Guangzhou, China. The tree’s steel-and-wire frame is covered with a plastic net decorated with more than 1 million natural pine cones painted red, gold, green and silver, 600,000 LED bulbs and topped by a 6-meter (20-foot)-tall shining star. The cost for this huge tree was $80,000. Cricket legend Arjuna Ranatunga initiated plans to build the record-breaking tree in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo stating that it showcases to the world that Sri Lanka is one country, one nation.
