Nothing is written about pleasures. While there are those who choose to enjoy their holiday on a comfortable beach, from the beach bar to the hammocks, from the hammocks to the pools, there are also those who prefer to wear a helmet, fasten their seat belts and walk on the beach. A fragile 170-meter staircase between two cliffs hundreds of meters high. Secondly, what more and more Chinese people choose to do at Qixing Mountain in the southwest of the country, where a tourist attraction unsuitable for heart patients or people suffering from vertigo is gaining popularity: Tianti, a word that can literally be translated as: “my lover’s ladder” “.

This statement gives a clear clue as to what it looks like.

“Stairway to Heaven”. This phrase may seem too poetic or exaggerated, but when you see the photos and videos of the installation mounted among the cliffs of Quixing Mountain in Zhangjiajie Natural Park, you understand much better why they called it that way: Tianti means “staircase”, meaning “from the sky.”

Nothing more and nothing less than this: a primitive staircase of cables and crossbars, 168 meters long, stretching at an astonishing height between two cliffs, rising up to hundreds of meters. How many exactly? CNN is talking about 1,500 meters.

A privileged view. As one visitor who passed through Tianti explained to CNN, the resort is ideal for adventurers who “like to challenge themselves.” But there’s another reason why the “stairway to heaven” triumphs beyond its promise of traveling 168 meters at an altitude unsuitable for people suffering from vertigo: the landscape that surrounds it.

Zhangjiajie Forest Park in Hunan Province is popular for its rock structures that erosion has turned into pillars. Besides Tianti, it is also known for the Bailong Elevator, a 326-meter open-air elevator, the Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge, which opened in 2016, and its cable cars. To be more precise, the “ladder to heaven” is integrated into Quixing Mountain, a ferrata-style climbing route with steel railings, footrests, ties and cables.

Vertigo no, equipment yes. CNN recently interviewed Yuan Xiaorui, an employee of the company responsible for operating the Quixing Mountain attraction, and he explained some of the keys to the experience: The entire route via via ferrata takes about three hours, costs 580 yuan ($80), and he explained some of the keys to the experience. Those who go on adventures do so with instructors and equipment.

“Customers will be equipped with helmets, seat belts and protective bags,” says Xiaorui. In videos about the Tianti stairs shared on social networks or on CNN, you can see how visitors wear helmets and belts that keep them attached to the cables of the stairs. You can find references to “Vía Lada” on X, Reddit or Instagram.

“Lada Road of Qixing Mountain in Zhangjiajie has a slope of 1,480 meters, and the longest staircase is 168 meters. Even after looking at the screen, my legs felt weak,” Treasure, a travel account published in late October, wrote. He has around 1.5 million followers on Instagram.

collapses at high altitude. For people who suffer from vertigo, the experience of going off a cliff (with or without a belt) can be shocking, but the truth is that there seems to be no shortage of people willing to experience it in Zhangjiajie. In August, state media CCTV produced a report mentioning that there were more than 1,200 tourists a day. Moreover, he claims that this attraction has become so popular that there was once a traffic jam at the heights, a view not unlike those seen on Everest or Fuji.

From networks to media. Tianti’s fame is not only due to its landscapes. Social networks helped him a lot. A video recorded by He Qian while climbing recently went viral on Douyin, Instagram’s sister app in China. The work shows what the staircase looks like and its panoramic view. “I wasn’t nervous, my son was,” he jokes in an interview with CNN. There was no shortage of reactions to his recording from people who admitted that they would not imitate him for the sake of a fortune. “My hands are sweating just looking at it!” someone writes.

“For those who love extreme climbing”. Some videos can also be seen on X. @KoneserUnii posted one in October, apparently recorded with drones; This helps to better understand the user who claims to feel dizzy by looking at images via mobile phone.

“The cliff of this mountain reaches an impressive height of 1,480 meters, making it a unique destination for extreme climbing enthusiasts. The longest staircase on the route is 168 m, which is a challenge even for experienced climbers,” he shares. The success of the building among visitors has given it visibility in media such as CNN or CCTV channel.

Beyond Tianti. The stairs of the Quixing Mountain trail may be impressive due to their height and location, but their success is not so strange in China, where there are other tourist attractions not recommended for the faint of heart. And you don’t have to look far. In Hunan there is the Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge, a transparent structure that rises to a height of 360 meters, or also the Bailong elevator made of glass, which allows you to ascend the edge of a cliff to a height of 326 m.

Pictures | Le Zenits (Flickr)

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