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 a lot of 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 large number tourists were visited by such a terrifying attraction.
The world's longest and tallest glass bridge, Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon glass bridge opened to the public on August 20, 2016. It offers the opportunity to enjoy panoramic views of the magnificent Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon - if you dare to walk through it!
Glass Bridge will not only serve as a path. Visitors can enjoy bungee jumping and zip lining.
- Length: 430 meters (1410 ft)
- Width: 6 meters (20 feet)
- Height: 300 meters (984 feet)
- Key Features: Bungee jump and beautiful natural views of towering sandstone pillars
- Ticket for Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Scenic Area is 118 yuan; the price of the glass bridge in Zhangjiajie is 138 yuan.
According to the latest official reports, Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Scenic Area (including glass bridge) will be suspended from September. 2nd, and its opening will be announced later. We will pay close attention. During a break, we would like to recommend Yangjiajie Scenic Area.
Finally Open! Would you dare to take a walk?
Our local guide sits on the glass bridge. You can see all the way down to the bottom of the canyon.
The glass bridge began trial operation on August 20, 2016. In test mode, no more than 8,000 visitors every day will have the opportunity to walk along the bridge. Entrance fees Available only by pre-order.
Since such tickets are limited, it is recommended to book your air ticket through a travel agency like us who are the first choice for purchasing the ticket. An individual booking is extremely unlikely to be successful. We suggest you book your ticket at least 10 days in advance. Please contact us if you need any assistance.
Things to keep in mind:
- The glass bridge is most likely closed in adverse weather conditions.
- Only up to 600 people are allowed on the bridge at one time.
- Visitors may only bring wallets and mobile phones with related incidents on the bridge.
- Do not attempt this if you have heart disease, high blood pressure, or a fear of heights.
- Don't behave dangerously. Do not run across the bridge, lean over the railway, etc.
Different from ZhangjiajieTianmen Mountain Glass Sky Walk
There are three glass sky walks in Tianmen Mountain scenic area, about 85 km from Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon, glass bridge. This glass clings to vertical rocks at altitudes of over 1,400 meters (4,600 feet).
Spiral Dragon Cliff's newest sky walk opened to the public on August 1, 2016. It is 100 meters (328 feet) long, 1.6 meters (5 feet) wide.
How to get to Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge
1. Get to Zhangjiajie City
by plane
Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge attracts a large number of visitors.
- Flying cities to Zhangjiajie throughout the year: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Changsha, Shenyang, Qingdao, Shenzhen
- Cities with irregular flights to Zhangjiajie: Chengdu, Chongqing, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Nanjing, Hong Kong, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Shantou, Xuzhou, Zhengzhou, Wuxi
By train
There are only regular trains to Zhangjiajie city at present. But there are many high-speed trains running from the most interesting cities (Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Guilin, etc.). in Changsha (capital of Hunan province). We recommend that you sit on high speed train to Changsha, and then by regular train to Zhangjiajie (about 5 hours).
See China Highlights train ticket sales services for train schedules.
2. Get to Zhangjiajie City Bus Station
There is no direct bus from Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Airport/Railway Station, so you have to go to Zhangjiajie Bus Station City (张家界市中心汽车站).
- From the airport: take a taxi. Or take public bus 4 to GuanlipingZhuanpan (官黎坪转盘).
- From the train station: Zhangjiajie City Bus Station is located to the left of the Zhangjiajie train station exit, about 150 meters down the road.
At Zhangjiajie City Bus Terminal, buy tickets to Wulingyuan Bus Terminal (武陵源).
3. From Wulingyuan Bus Station Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon
Take the "Zhangjiajie–Grand Canyon" line (武陵源–大峡谷). Once in the Grand Canyon, follow the signs and people to the glass bridge.
"¥10,000 symbol" - international competition name
Zhangjiajie glass bridge is in the development and testing stage, Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Scenic Area announced a global competition for the name of the new bridge. The main prize is RMB 10,000 (USD 1,530) for each symbol, maximum 10 characters, so up to RMB 100,000 (USD 15,300)!
Other prizes from December 25, 2015 to February 29, 2016 competition are sent to every corner and access to every work in the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Scenic Area. 1,000 lucky members can travel to Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon with their family for free.
Experience the glass bottom bridge and world-class scenery of China
As the glass bottom bridge opens, it will be another highlight in Zhangjiajie. If you want to enjoy the stunning scenery and amazing sights of Zhangjiajie, see our top-rated tours below for inspiration:
- Tour Shanghai - Suzhou - Hangzhou - Zhangjiajie - Fenghuang 12 days/11 nights
Our tours can be customized. Just tell us your interests and requirements and we will design for
IN national park Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province, has completed construction of the world's longest glass bridge. The structure is reported to be very strong and can support up to 800 people. /website/
The bridge, located 300 meters above the ground, connects the two sides of the great canyon. The glass structure stretches 430 meters in length and is six meters wide. According to the builders, the bridge's glass covering has passed about 100 safety tests. Tests were also carried out for resistance to temperature changes and wind swings.
Glass bridge on the gorge. Photo: JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty Images
The developer of the project was the Israeli architectural firm Haim Dotan. “Thanks to its glass base, the Zhangjiajie Bridge will look like a real invisible road going into the clouds,” the designers said about the structure.
This is not the first glass bridge in the area. Last September, another glass bridge opened in Zhangjiajie Park, called the “Bridge of Brave People.” The suspended structure, 300 meters long, is located between two cliffs at an altitude of 180 meters.
Previously, the bridge was wooden, but to attract tourists they decided to make it entirely of glass. Back in 2014, the park management conducted an experiment by replacing a small part of the bridge with glass. Everyone liked the result of the experiment, so the administration decided to change the entire bridge.
According to engineers, glass 24 mm thick is absolutely safe. Tourists can even jump on it if they dare. However, they often walk through it with their eyes closed or on all fours. Many people try not to look down, although they can admire scenic view villages below.
Are glass bridges safe?
There is another glass bridge in Zhangjiajie Park. It is located on the Tianmen cliff. True, it does not swing over the gorge, but is attached to the mountain, but this does not make the bridge any less scary. A transparent structure called the “air trail” invites tourists to admire the views of the park from a height of 1,430 meters. This height allows you to look at some mountains from above.
In October last year, this bridge cracked, which greatly frightened tourists. The U-shaped glass bridge could not withstand the impact of a metal thermos, which fell from the hands of one of the visitors. Fortunately, no one was injured and the tourists were evacuated.
Bridge officials confirmed that "under the influence external force“Several cracks appeared on the structure. However, they assured that only one of the three layers of glass was cracked, so there was no danger to people.
Glass bridges in other countries
Thrill-seekers can admire the Grand Canyon in the US state of Arizona from an observation deck known as the “sky trail”. The glass platform was built by architect Mark Ross Johnson in 2009.
The bridge is made in the form of an arc, 20 meters beyond the rocks. Here tourists can fully feel like they are floating above the abyss, since the completely transparent structure is located at an altitude of more than 1.2 kilometers. Both the railings and the floor of the bridge are made entirely of glass with high degree transparency.
There is an area with a glass floor on Tower Bridge in central London. A breathtaking panorama of the English capital can be seen if you climb the pedestrian part of the bridge to a height of 44 meters. Compared to bridges located in the mountains, Tower Bridge is not at all scary.
There are no similar structures in Russia yet, but Moscow has a chance to acquire its own “floating bridge” in the future. A glass structure over the Moscow River is included in the Zaryadye Park project. According to the plan, it should connect the park with the embankment. You can get to it through an underground passage.
The height of the structure will be 140 meters. From the bridge you will have a view of the Kremlin, the park and the central embankments. According to project leaders, construction of the bridge will begin this year. The opening of Zaryadye Park itself is planned for next year.
Would you install an application on your phone to read articles from the epochtimes website?
A glass bridge is not only beautiful, but also stylish. The Chinese decided so and built an unusual glass structure in Hunan province. After the construction of the bridge, it was used to connect the two sides of the mountains, and also played pranks on many tourists.
Bridge Features
This bridge is considered the longest structure on the planet made of glass. Its length is 430 meters. And the width is 6 meters. The bridge is suspended at an altitude of 380 meters. This design is also safe and equipped with last word technology.
The glass bridge project and its construction cost China $3.4 million. The bridge consists of 99 durable and three-layer parts. Below the bridge lies a national park and canyon. For now, excursions at the site are being conducted in test mode.
Tourist draws
Immediately after the opening, a funny incident occurred on the extraordinary bridge. The guide, who was leading the group through the glass structure, suddenly fell to his knees and screamed heart-rendingly, and a visual effect of cracked glass appeared under his feet. The tourists were taken aback, but then relaxed a little, because a passer-by was calmly walking along the bridge in their direction.
A glass bridge in China cracked under the feet of tourists (video)
It turned out that the bridge is equipped with interactive panels that create the effect of cracks and also reproduce the sound of breaking glass necessary for the prank. These are the kind of entertainers the Chinese are.
Visit to the bridge
8,000 people can look at the bridge and walk along it per day. Before opening, the structure was tested for strength more than 100 times. The opening of the attraction took place in 2016. At first, people were on duty near the ticket office in front of the bridge at night to buy tickets for the excursion.
Now everyone has become accustomed to the new miracle of engineering, and the excitement around it has died down a little. 800 people can cross the bridge at the same time. But for security reasons, the capacity was reduced to 600. After all, the bridge itself is guarded by about 200 guards.
The facility is open to visitors from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. It often happens that by 8 am all tickets for the glass bridge are already sold out, so it’s worth planning a tour of it in advance.
The ticket price is approximately 140 yuan. A child whose height is less than 1 meter and 30 centimeters can enter for free.
How to get to the glass bridge?
The city with the bridge is located in the southwest of Beijing. You can get there by train. You will have to get off the train at Zhangjiajie station. It is also possible to fly to this place from Beijing by plane.
The canyon, over which a glass bridge hangs, is located a 15-minute drive from the city. The best way to get there is by car, which is easy to rent.
The mountains of the Wulinshan Range and the town of Zhangjiajie, lost in them, have existed since time immemorial. But only recently, walks through places with surreal landscapes among these mountains have become especially popular among tourists.
This was facilitated by fantastic shots of soaring peaks depicting the planet Pandora in J. Cameron’s film “Avatar”, which were filmed in these very places. Curious tourists flocked to the Chinese province of Hunan, where on an area of almost 500 square meters. kilometers, spread out National Park Zhangjiajie. But, since the road to the reserve was not easy, the excitement gradually subsided. For the time being.
Grand Canyon Bridge, Zhangjiajie Park, Hunan Province
The second wave of tourist flow began in August 2016. It was then that an extreme attraction opened on the territory of the forest - a glass bridge over the gorge, hovering at a dizzying height above the ground and called the “Grand Canyon”.
Parameters of the Grand Canyon Bridge
Today it is. The parameters of the structure are impressive:
- height above the ground – 300 meters;
- the width of the pedestrian part of the bridge is 6 meters;
- passage length – 430 meters;
- design capacity – 8000 people per daylight hours;
- load-bearing capacity – up to 800 people at a time;
- construction material: 120 panels of 3-layer heavy-duty glass;
- additional attraction: the world's highest jumping platform, located under the central span of the bridge at an altitude of almost 270 meters above the ground.
Author of the bridge project
The author of the project is Israeli architect Haim Dotan, whose creations are well known in China. Being an adherent of the concept of merging architectural objects with nature, he came up with such a unique bridge, which, in his words, is intended to become not just “a jumper for moving from point A to point B,” but a natural scene with the illusion of floating in the clouds. In the future, it is planned not only to organize dance shows, but also to open an amphitheater with 3,000 seats at its final point for holding various kinds of shows.
Bridge safety
Fragility of the structure, of course, is illusory. The bridge went through rigorous testing for structural integrity, temperature endurance and wind resistance. Eyewitnesses say that to check the safety of the structure, they not only performed a crash test on it, but also allowed a heavy car to drive over the glass. The structure did not flinch. And now neither raging hurricanes, nor heavy precipitation, nor even the lively dances of several hundred stomping heels will destroy the glass bridge in . The photo demonstrates its strength.
But everyone can get their share of adrenaline from the bridge. A crystal path with a transparent bottom attracts daredevils from all over the world to take a walk over the abyss in the mountains. Having experienced pleasure hanging over the abyss, tourists rush to other corners of the park, fraught with passages through forests, rides on a cable car and a descent in a glass elevator from the mountain.
Twiddling Dragon Trail, Zhangjiajie Park, Hunan Province
And, if extreme glass over the abyss is not enough, then the Zhangjiajie Nature Reserve will offer crystal lovers another interesting trek. This time - over a cliff. By the way, it also opened to the public only in August 2016.
Walking along the undulating corridor, tightly adjacent to the Tianmen rock and repeating all its curves, you can get an unforgettable experience. To some they will seem like happiness at the edge of the clouds, to others fatal moments walking on the edge of an abyss. But no one will remain indifferent.
Bridge technical characteristics
Specifications this miracle is much more modest than that of the Grand Canyon. Although both glass bridges are located in the same park, they are the complete opposite of each other. Thus, the “Writhing Dragon” is 1.6 meters wide, the glass thickness is 6.5 cm, and the length of the passage is only about 100 meters. In the absence of a flow of people, you can even run these meters half-bent, if not for one “but”. The fact is that the “Dragon” hovers at an altitude of 1430 meters above the ground.
Feelings above the bottomless abyss
When entering the bridge even the most courageous begin to get goosebumps and dizziness from the bottomless abyss when looking down. There's no time for running! Somehow I would get there without incident, tenaciously holding on to the handrails. Those who are not afraid and walk across the bridge are not at all a long distance with a wide with open eyes, will be able to capture in their lenses frames of indescribable beauty, where peaks and gorges alternate with a mysterious haze, and the stone slopes of cliffs smoothly turn into green caps of peaks.
To ensure safe passage, all tourists are given special anti-slip shoe covers, which also serve as covers for dirty street shoes. This measure helps preserve the glass sidewalk transparent and clean for a long time.
Heroes' Bridge, Shinyuzhai Park, Hunan Province
The tour of the glass bridges of China will continue with another masterpiece of fragile architecture - the Bridge of Heroes, located in the Shinyuzhai National Geological Park in the same Hunan province, 46 km from the city of Pingyang and 112 km northeast of the provincial capital - Changsha.
This is an earlier example of bridge architecture. Was opened to the public in 2015. Old-timers say that this passage through the valley, connecting the two peaks of the mountain, existed before, but only in wooden form. That’s why it didn’t particularly tickle the nerves of pedestrians. But after reconstruction, when it was dressed in crystal, the suspension bridge became the number 1 attraction in the park. Of course! The parameters are serious:
- length – 300 meters;
- width – 1.5 meters;
- glass thickness – 24 mm;
- height above the ground – 180 meters;
- withstands temperature changes of up to 60 o C and wind speeds of up to 230 km per hour.
Many wanted to test their courage and “touch” the height of the 58-story building. Only here the house is not with reinforced concrete floors, but with glass floors from top to bottom! Bridge of Brave People - there is no other way to say it!
U-shaped bridge on Yuntai Mountain, Henan Province
This is another adrenaline trail that is very popular among tourists. Located in Henan Province. This is the same province that is famous for its grottoes near the city of Luoyang. But do not confuse it with Hunan, where the other three bridges described above are located.
The U-shaped passage that follows the contour of Yuntai Mountain in the Yuntai Mountain Range is a blood-stirring attraction. It received its first visitors in September 2015. But not even a month had passed since the opening day when the bridge showed its capricious character. While it was filled to capacity with people, a steel flask belonging to one of the tourists fell onto the glass surface. The floor under pedestrians' feet instantly covered with cracks. Fortunately, only the first layer of super-strong three-layer glass broke. Everything went well, but you can imagine the horror that gripped the people, because they were at an altitude of almost 1100 meters.
Since then, people are not allowed onto others and onto this glass bridge over the abyss with metal objects, and they are asked to take off their high-heeled shoes.
