Originally published 2021-05-12.
Photo: XINHUA/WEIBO
On Friday 7 May 2021, gusts of up to 150 km/h (about 90 mph) tore several glass panels out of a suspension bridge on Piyan Mountain, near the city of Longjing in Jilin province, north-east China. A man who was alone on the bridge, about 100 metres (330 feet) above the valley floor, was left clinging to the railing over the gap. He held on for more than half an hour before firefighters, police and forestry and tourism staff reached him and brought him to safety. He was not hurt, but he was taken to hospital for a check-up and counselling, and the attraction was closed for investigation.
A photograph of the stranded tourist, shared on Chinese social media and by state media, spread around the world within days. It became a symbol of the questions hanging over China's boom in glass-bottomed attractions: how they are built, who inspects them and what happens when the weather turns.
What happened on Piyan Mountain
Piyan Mountain is a scenic area close to Longjing, a small city in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture near the border with North Korea. Its glass-floored bridge was designed to give visitors the feeling of floating over a 100-metre drop.
According to local authorities quoted by state media, the wind rose suddenly to gale force while the man was crossing. Panels from the bridge's floor were blown out, leaving a stretch of open frame. The widely shared image shows him gripping the side of the bridge with empty sections around him.
Reports differ slightly on the rescue. Some English-language coverage, based on early Chinese reports, said the man managed to climb back to a safe section with help from on-site staff. Most later accounts, including The Guardian, describe a rescue team arriving more than 30 minutes after the panels broke. Either way, he survived without physical injury. Officials then closed the scenic area while the bridge and its maintenance were investigated.
Why China has so many glass bridges
Glass-floored bridges, walkways and slides became one of China's most popular tourist draws in the 2010s. They are relatively cheap to build compared with major resorts, photograph well and are easy to promote on social media. Local governments in rural areas embraced them as a way to bring domestic tourists to mountain regions.
The best known is the Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge in Hunan province. It opened on 20 August 2016, stretches 430 metres across a canyon about 300 metres deep and was designed for up to 800 people at once. Demand was so high that it closed less than two weeks after opening to upgrade parking, ticketing and visitor management, reopening at the end of September 2016. Its length record was later broken by a glass bridge in Hebei province.
The BBC reported in 2021 that China was estimated to have around 2,300 glass bridges, along with many glass walkways and slides. Even if the exact figure is uncertain, the scale explains why a single failure drew so much attention.
A pattern of accidents and closures
The Piyan Mountain incident was not the first warning. Several earlier events, also noted in the BBC's coverage, had raised doubts about safety:
- 2016, Zhangjiajie: a visitor on a glass walkway was reportedly hurt by falling rocks.
- 2018, Hebei: authorities shut 32 glass attractions in the province, including bridges, walkways and viewing platforms, for safety inspections.
- 2019, Guangxi: one person died and six were injured after sliding off a glass slide in wet conditions.
Global News, reporting on the Longjing incident, summed up the wider record as several injuries and a small number of deaths linked to glass attractions over the past decade. After the 2021 incident, state media reported that local governments were preparing guidelines to rein in new glass bridges, including technical standards and advice against building them in earthquake-prone areas.
Why wind is such a risk for glass bridges
Suspension bridges are designed to move. On a mountain ridge, wind can accelerate as it is squeezed through valleys and over peaks, and gusts can change direction quickly. A glass deck adds weight and stiffness and depends on panels staying securely seated in their frame.
The official investigation focused on why the panels came loose, and public reports did not set out a detailed engineering cause. What is clear is that the bridge was open at a time when gusts reached gale force. Many operators now close high or exposed attractions when wind exceeds a set threshold, which is one of the simplest protections available.
Practical tips if you visit a glass attraction
Glass bridges and skywalks remain popular around the world, from China to the Grand Canyon Skywalk in Arizona. The vast majority of visits pass without incident. A few common-sense habits help:
- Check the weather. If it is very windy, stormy or icy, consider postponing, even if the site is open.
- Follow staff instructions on group size, footwear covers and where to stand, and leave if staff ask you to.
- Look for recent information about closures or inspections rather than relying on older reviews or promotional photos.
- Know your limits. If heights trigger panic or dizziness, a viewing platform on solid ground offers the same scenery without the stress.
The man on Piyan Mountain was lucky to walk away unhurt. His photograph is a reminder that thrill attractions are only as safe as the decisions made around them, from design and maintenance to closing the gates when the wind picks up.
Sources: Global News: Glass bridge shatters in China, leaving tourist clinging on (10 May 2021); Taipei Times / The Guardian (12 May 2021); Wikipedia: Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge; background on glass bridge numbers and earlier incidents from the BBC. Photo: Xinhua/Weibo.
COMMENTS