China Opens Longest Glass-Bottomed Suspension Bridge

Last year, we reported a new attraction in China — a high-altitude glass bottom bridge in Shiniuzhai National Geological Park in Pingjiang county, in central Hunan province. At that time, the glass panels spanned only a few meters in the middle of the otherwise wooden suspension bridge. Now all the remaining planks of wood have been replaced with plates of thick glass, making the 300-meter long bridge probably the longest glass-bottomed bridge in the world.

Dangling more than 180 meters high in the sky, the bridge definitely isn't for the faint of heart. Tourists who took to the bridge when it opened to the public on Thursday were literally too scared to move. Some dropped to their knees after glancing down at the canyon floor below. Despite the fragile look, the bridge has been designed to withstand high winds, earthquakes, frost and the weight of 800 visitors at any given time.

The bridge is the latest among glass-bottomed attractions in China designed for thrill-seeking tourists. For instance, a glass elevator was recently opened at a scenic site in Hubei province, right next to a cliff. And earlier this year, a viewing platform in Chongqing became the world's longest cantilever walkway with a glass bottom. There already is a vertigo inducing glass-bottomed cliff-side pathway on the side of the Tianmen Mountain.

Meanwhile there's another glass bridge being built in Zhangjiajie, Hunan that'll be even higher and longer than the one at the Geopark. The new bridge will be reportedly 300 meters high and 380 meters long.

Sources: ABC News / The Independent