Xinhua News Agency (reporters Mingxing and Li Dan) — A nearly 90-degree vertical cliff face, with students carrying backpacks and textbooks climbing up ropes suspended from the cliff top to get to school, creating a perilous scene. Recently, an online post titled “Another ‘Sky Road’ to School: Middle School Students in Baojing, Western Hunan, Climb Ropes to Attend Classes” has touched the hearts of netizens. Local government officials told reporters that the ropes were set up by hikers themselves, and that there is a safe route to school. The students climb the ropes only to shorten their journey by 500 meters. Authorities are working to remove the hazard and have issued warnings.
The post states that in Shuitian Township, Baojing County, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, around fifty to sixty students travel to Hansha Township Middle School at the foot of the mountain every week. Part of the essential route to school includes a cliff about 10 meters high, which the students must scale using two hemp ropes. These ropes are tied to a small tree on the cliff and have been frayed by sharp, protruding rocks, making the situation extremely dangerous.
Since the post was published on the 4th, over ten thousand netizens have clicked and viewed it on forum websites, with more than a hundred leaving comments. Many netizens expressed hope that the local government would repair the school route as soon as possible to resolve the students’ difficult journey to school.
In response, local authorities stated that this route is not the necessary path for students to get to school. There is a motorable road in the village, and aside from that, there is also a mountain path that poses no safety risks. This mountain path only adds an extra 500 meters compared to the cliffside route. The students climb the ropes simply to shorten their trip to school by 500 meters.