Hike across the glass bridge. Glass bridges in China. Glass observation decks and trails

Chinese social media users shared a video showing how glass bridge along Mount Taihan Shan at an altitude of 1180 m began to crack under the feet of the guide of the tourist group. The guide, in a panic, threw the flag and began to crawl away from the cracks, but the situation did not improve, writes Mashable.

Weibo netizens noticed another tourist who calmly walked along the cracks. This fact led them to believe that the cracks on the bridge were not real, but were caused by a special effect.

Some noted that the special effect could lead to heart attacks among tourists. However, other viewers linked the cracks on the bridge to poor quality glass.

Because of the viral video, criticism of the quality of the structure reached the East Taihan County Administration, which had to explain that the cracking glass was the result of a special effect.

Special panels with a special effect were installed in some sections of the bridge “to provoke” and attract tourists. When people walk on such panels, the sound of cracking glass is heard and “natural cracks” appear.

The administration noted that the guide knew about the special effect, but deliberately decided to scare tourists. Officials expressed regret to the frightened tourists, but emphasized that they were not going to change the glass.

After watching the video, many tourists will want to come to the bridge and see the special effect with their own eyes.

The 430 m long bridge was put into operation in August 2016. It consists of 99 three-layer heavy-duty glass panels and can support the weight of up to 800 people at a time. The $3.4 million structure was designed by Israeli architect Haim Dotan.

Real cracks

In 2015, a cracked glass bridge in Henan province, located 183 meters above the ground, caused a stir among tourists. The bottom of the U-shaped bridge is lined with glass panels up to 27 mm thick.

According to experts, each square meter of the bridge can support up to 726 kg. However, this does not reassure tourists.

People posted on social media that the glass was cracked when a stainless steel cup fell. And although statements by officials convinced tourists of the safety and strength of the bridge, eyewitnesses had the opposite opinion.

“It wasn’t just a few cracks in the glass. The entire panel was broken. To say that I am exaggerating is a slander that I do not recognize,”- wrote Li Donghai.

Fans of extreme sports and unusual types of entertainment should take a walk along the glass bridge in China. Made entirely of glass, it creates the impression of floating above the abyss - just look at your feet. There are similar structures in other countries of the world, but it is Chinese bridge- the longest. The glass bridge is located 180 meters above the Pingyang Valley and connects two Mountain peaks.

However, a glass bridge is nothing new for China. They previously built a glass bridge that goes around Tianmen Mountain in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park.

SO THERE ARE TWO GLASS BRIDGES? LET'S UNDERSTAND!
Glass Bridge on Tianmen Mountain built on the territory national park China Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, which is located in Hunan Province. The length of the bridge is about 70 meters and it is located at an altitude of 1900 meters. The bridge goes around Tianmen Mountain and reaches Zhangjiajie Mountain, which provides an amazing view of the beauty of the natural park.

Glass Bridge on Tianmen Mountain

Glass bridge over Pingyang Valley is located at an altitude of 180 meters. Its length is about 300 meters, and it connects two mountain peaks. The sides and floor are made of especially durable three-layer glass, which is 25 times stronger than usual. Such a bridge will withstand any load - no matter how hard the tourists jump, engineers assure. Its design is resistant to temperature changes of 60 degrees Celsius and wind speeds of up to 220 km/h. However, even knowing about the reliability of the bridge, tourists who step on it are often afraid to look down. After all, an abyss opens up under your feet and it feels as if you are walking on air. That is why the attraction was nicknamed the “air trail”. The staff working near the bridge helps to overcome this path, of course laughing at the unlucky tourists stuck right in the middle of the bridge in a panic attack :) Are you feeling weak?

Glass bridge over the Pingyang Valley.

ZHANGJIAJIE NATIONAL FOREST PARK

Independent travelers will find it easy to find this park on world maps:

What else to see in Zhangjiajie National Park?
Certainly, national park Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is famous not only for its glass bridge. This is one of the most beautiful parks in China, which has been under the protection of UNESCO since the late 90s. Local nature not only captivated thousands of tourists from all over the world, but also became a source of inspiration for the award-winning director James Cameron. He specially came here to admire the stone pillars, which eventually became the prototype of the floating mountains in the acclaimed film “Avatar”.

In addition to the stone pillars and glass path, Zhangjiajie Park has many attractions that deserve attention:

1. Mountains. They are especially beautiful in the morning when they are covered with a thick layer of fog.

2. The staircase to Huanshi Mountain is 3800 steps high, leading to the aerial path.

3. Elevator "Hundred Dragons". The highest altitude lift in the world, lifting tourists 330 meters above the ground. Its transparent walls and ceiling provide views of all local attractions.

4. Cable car to Mount Tianji, stretching for 7445 m. It is the highest and longest in the whole world.

5. "Heavenly Highway" 11 km dangerous mountain serpentine with more than 100 sharp turns.

6. A network of caves, including the four-level Yellow Lion Cave at an altitude of over 1000 m.

OPENING SCHEDULE AND PRICES
You can walk along the glass bridge on Tianmen Mountain every day from 7:00 to 18:00 - at this time the last cable car leaves for the bridge. But you can enter Zhangjiajie Park itself later; if you wish, you can even stay in the national park for the night, staying in one of the hotels located there.

Price entrance ticket to the park depends on the age and social status of the visitor:
1. An adult 3-day pass costs 248 yuan, including insurance - 3 yuan.
2. For students under 24 years old and children under 1.2 m tall, a three-day pass will cost 163 yuan. Young people must show a student ID to receive a discount. If it does not indicate the date of birth, you must additionally present your passport.
3. Special benefits are provided to disabled people of groups I and II, war veterans and military personnel, as well as pensioners over 70 years of age. The cost of a three-day pass for these categories of visitors is 68 yuan.
The ticket price includes: entrance to the park and travel around the territory for regular buses. Elevators, funiculars, trams, cave tours are paid separately.
In addition, at the entrance to the park it is recommended to buy a map, without which it will be difficult to navigate the large area. Its cost is 5 yuan.

According to our readers (Andrew): 300m bridge over Pingyang Valley is not located within the park, it is separate standing mountain Tianji and this mountain ticket must be purchased separately and costs another 270 yuan.

Glass Bridge on Tianmen Mountain

HOW TO GET THERE
BY PLANE
There are two small towns near Zhangjiajie Nature Park - Zhangjiajie And Wulingyuan. You can get to them by plane from any large city: Beijing, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, but it is cheaper and faster to fly from Shanghai.

BY TRAIN
From any smaller city in central China it is cheaper to travel by train. True, you will have to go through several connections.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT
In addition, Zhangjiajie town can be reached by bus from Changshi and Fng Huang, which are located relatively nearby.
Once you reach Zhangjiajie or Wulingyuan, you should take a bus to the park. It departs from the bus station and takes about 1 hour. Ticket price is about 12 yuan. The bus will arrive at the bus station, from which you will need to walk a few minutes to the entrance to the national park.

TAXI
More comfortable and quick way- a taxi, which will cost 100-200 yuan, but will deliver you exactly to your destination. The only negative is that Chinese taxi drivers do not speak English, which can create difficulties when explaining where to go. It is better to have a booklet with you with the name of the park or show it on the screen of your smartphone to avoid misunderstandings with the driver. Also, be sure to make sure that the taxi driver turns on the meter, otherwise a dishonest driver will try to deceive you.

Before your trip, you can check the cost of tickets from Shanghai to Zhangjiajie (Dayong Airport) on Skyscanner.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE GLASS BRIDGE
1. Few cleaners are willing to clean glass after every tourist. Therefore, to keep it clean and transparent, when entering the bridge, visitors are asked to wear special fabric shoe covers.

2. In order to walk along air path, requires a strong nervous system. There are times when tourists faint from fear. Therefore, another name for the bridge is “trail of horror.”

3. Specially trained employees are on duty at the entrance to the glass bridge, who help particularly impressionable visitors cross to the other side. People often panic when they cannot see the floor under their feet, and in this case, moral support comes in handy.

4. Since the side of the bridge is also glass, tourists try to walk, clinging to the rock. However, this turns out to be problematic: the glass bridge is quite slippery, and the person begins to slide, which adds to the extreme.

The bridge is strong enough, there should be no defects, and can withstand even high temperatures of 60°. Does not waver or wobble in wind speeds of 220 kilometers per hour.

The bridge is treated with care; everyone who wants to walk across it wears shoe covers. And for people who really want to admire the beauty of the valley, but are afraid to go alone, there is a special staff that accompanies the entire path - from one peak to another.

True, the Chinese themselves are already accustomed to such bridges. The very first glass bridge was built on Tianmen Mountain. The length of courage is only 61 meters. But when you find out at what height the bridge is located, you are unlikely to agree to experience all the delights of human creation. The bridge flaunts at an altitude of 1220 meters. There are always enough people who want to, but there are more of those who are instilled with fear of heights. Many people are terrified of heights, I wonder what it was like for the builders. We hope their work was well compensated.

You won’t believe it, but not long ago one guide was leading a tourist group across the bridge when suddenly cracks began to appear under his feet with a creaking sound.

The man fell to the floor and started screaming, he was scared. It is interesting that a happy, calm man walks towards him and casts an incomprehensible glance at the guide. He is not aware of what happened.

In the video you can see what is happening for yourself. People were so excited, and there was heated discussion online later. To reassure people, the East Taihan County government told the media that these were just special effects. This is a PR stunt to ensure that a large number of tourists visit such a terrifying attraction.

A video from China is gaining popularity on the Internet, in which a man walking along a glass bridge falls in panic when cracks begin to creep along the glass under his feet. Fortunately, everything worked out well - the cracks turned out to be just an ingenious special effect added to one of the sections of the bridge.

Footage of a man whose feet cracked the surface of a glass bridge along Taihang Mountain has captured the attention of Chinese social networks, reports the website Mashable. You can watch how the hero of the video, noticing the cracks, falls on the glass in fear and tries to crawl away.

A man not expecting a trick, presumably a tour guide, leads a group of people.

Suddenly, cracks begin to appear under his feet.

The guide falls onto the glass screaming, but cracks continue to creep under his hands. The man tries to crawl away in panic.

The video instantly went viral a large number Chinese media.

Fortunately, the cracks that frightened the pedestrian turned out to be just the result of the work of special panels installed on one of the sections of the bridge located at an altitude of 1,200 meters. The panels react to pedestrian steps, displaying images of creeping cracks and emitting a characteristic sound.

From located along sheer cliff The bridge offers an impressive view.

The East Taihang County government issued an official apology, explaining that the cracking glass was just an effect added by designers for the purpose of “provocation.” The administration does not intend to dismantle the panels that frighten pedestrians and hopes that a good dose of adrenaline will help attract additional tourists.

“The effect is too realistic, it’s actually a little scary.”

“The cores can die here.”

In 2015, cracks that appeared on another glass bridge located a kilometer high seriously frightened residents of the Chinese province of Henan. That time the cracks turned out to be real and the bridge had to be closed for repairs.

To reassure the public, which is suspicious of the reliability of glass structures, designers often come up with various strength tests. Thus, the highest and longest glass bridge, erected over the Zhangjiajie Canyon, journalists were allowed to hit with sledgehammers.

While bridges in China frighten random pedestrians, in the United States a bridge mocks hapless drivers. In the town of Durham, North Carolina, a bridge passes low over the road to literally all trucks passing under it.

 

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