THE SIGN HUNTERS

CHINA: The glass skywalks of Lingjiangyuan

Written by Laszlo, 28 July 2020

High altitude glass constructions and walkways are highly popular tourist attractions in China. There are an estimated 2300 glass bridges, slides and viewing platforms in the country and the number is still growing. There have been many built in the past few years and there seems to be a continued demand for it. In October 2019, we set out for visiting Zhejiang Province's own "skywalk" attraction, which instantly comes with a glass suspension bridge and a glass-bottomed platform. It includes - as an added bonus - the area, which is actually a beautiful forest-covered mountain which comes with a rustic old countryside village.

The forest park itself is located about 200 km south of Hangzhou, in the Lingjiangyuan Scenic Area (灵江源森林公园). It is near Jinhua city in Pan’an county (浙江金华磐安). It is nicely hidden away. The road that goes up to the village is also very narrow, and there are many farmhouses at the entrance. It is very quiet and peaceful around here. The scenic area is remote and the vegetation is well protected. The elevation is about 800 meters, the air is fresh, the climate is pleasant, the environment is beautiful, and the forest coverage rate reaches more than 90%. In this beautiful environment can one hike up to the glass bridge and the glass-bottomed platform.

The glass suspension bridge was built in early 2018. The total width of it is 2.8 meters, the vertical height is 189 meters, and the bridge spans 365 meters. The "high-altitude glass platform" is 158 meters long and has a vertical height of 288 meters. Only one end is connected to the mountain, and the other end is completely suspended. The platform makes "glass cracking" sound effects, which is quite dodgy. On the 8 August 2019, the Sky Platform of Lingjiangyuan Forest Park won the Guinness World Records title of "The Longest Cantilevered Glass-bottomed Skywalk."

We have already made a mockery with the Pig about this trip; that video was published via our YouTube channel months ago, but it still took me almost ten months to get the photos sorted and finally prepare this post. It is finally time that I also present you with over hundred photos and not only of the bridge and the skywalk, but some other things too that I managed to capture during the hike. Find the videos after the photos. Enjoy!