China’s new 945-foot cliff elevator cuts student’s 3-hour trek to 30 minutes
SMRTR summary
A three-hour mountain trek to school, navigating steep canyon trails in southern China, is now a 50-second elevator ride.
Deep in Yunnan Province's Nizhuhe Grand Canyon, a towering 288-meter glass elevator called the Fuyao Ladder recently began carrying schoolchildren from the canyon floor to the upper rim, where their school sits nearly 1,650 meters above sea level. Around 20 children once endured grueling round trips of more than six hours on exposed mountain paths, with some forced to board at school just to avoid the journey.
The new elevator, which can carry 81 passengers at a time, works alongside a smaller elevator that opened in 2024. Together they move up to 1,200 passengers per hour. Local students ride free on a dedicated school route, separate from tourists.
The impact on tourism has been striking too, with daily visitors jumping from around 4,000 to 15,000. But for canyon families, the real story is simpler: their children can now get to school.
SMRTR provides this summary for quick context. The original article belongs to Interesting Engineering.
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