Monday, August 22, 2011

CHINA PATH

OSHA isn't spoken here..
The growth of China in tourism is very much indebted to these hard working, brave people.



Workers build a footpath around the vertiginous slopes of Shifou Mountain in China





Thousands of metres up the steep slopes of Shifou Mountain in Hunan Province, China, a team of workers, operating with hardly any safety measures, are building a footpath.



The workers are building a plank road on the side of the mountain that, once it is finished, will stretch for 3km (9843 ft) and be China 's longest sightseeing footpath.







48-year-old Yu Ji (above) is one of the workers and he has been working on high cliffs building such plank roads for more than 10 years. He comments: "Young people don't want this job, as it requires them to stay deep in the mountains for months or even years"

 Yu Ji takes charge of the most dangerous part of the project - drilling the holes to set up pipes to support the footpath.





Building a plank road on Shifou Mountain is difficult because the cliff stands vertical at 90 degrees, without any slope or alcoves












A finished section of the footpath.


Humor --

From the Bulwer-Lytton San Jose State Bad Writing Contest.  (Remember “It was a dark and stormy night”?):

“As a scientist, Throckmorton knew that if he were to ever break wind in the sound chamber, he would never hear the end of it.”

and

“With a curvaceous figure that Venus would have envied, a tanned unblemished oval face framed with lustrous thick brown hair, deep azure-blue eyes fringed with long black lashes, perfect teeth that vied for competition, and a small straight nose, Marilee had a beauty that defied description.”




3 comments:

  1. I wouldn't even be brave enough to walk the FINISHED footpath.

    I watched this http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/27/george-mallory-everest-new-film on TV last night. Amazing people who can handle heights. I can't even stand on a chair without feeling dizzy.

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  2. Even the unseen photographer who took the pictures amazes me.

    My father-in-law tells of a planked footpath that used to stretch clear across the wide Potomac River, from Maryland to Virginia near Great Falls. His uncle was going across it with him when DadH was about ten--and the boards were rotten, and one fell into the river far below right out from under their feet!

    They RACED back to the nearer Maryland side in a panic and the footpath was permanently removed not long after.

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  3. Amazing! Although I admit I would love to visit, I don;t see it happening. Thank goodness for that photographer!

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