China: World's longest glass bridge temporarily suspended

(Baonghean.vn) - The world's longest glass bridge located in Zhangjiajie Park in Hunan Province's nature reserve has just announced a temporary suspension of operations due to the large number of tourists.

Every day, the glass bridge welcomes more than 10,000 visitors while the bridge's limit is 8,000 people. Photo: AFP

The 430-meter-long, 6-meter-wide glass bridge, located at an altitude of 300 meters and connecting two mountain peaks in a nature reserve in Hunan province, has been closed, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to authorities, the bridge's closure is to improve the internal structural system including "software and equipment for managing visitors."

The reason for the closure is that the bridge has a limited capacity of only 8,000 people while the number of visitors registering to walk on the bridge has reached more than 10,000 people per day. There is currently no announcement about the time the bridge will reopen to visitors.

The bridge closure angered many tourists. Photo: Gelty

Immediately after the above information, although the bridge management company apologized to tourists who had booked to visit, this did not reduce their anger.

One tourist said he had boarded the train to visit the bridge and could not change his travel plans or get his money back. He criticized this as the world's most fraudulent business.

The Hunan Provincial Nature Reserve, famous for its rugged mountain scenery and year-round cloud cover, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The bridge was originally made of wood before being replaced with reinforced glass panels.

The world's longest glass bridge seen from above. Photo: Internet

In 2015, a crack appeared on the glass bridge, causing concern among many. However, local authorities organized several media events to demonstrate the bridge’s strength. Some of the experiments conducted included having a reporter hit the bridge with a sledgehammer and letting a car carrying a group of tourists drive across the bridge.

An Vien

(According to 20Minutes)