Cliff road leads Guizhou village to prosperity

A road built by hand along cliffs connected Shibanhe village in Guizhou province to the outside world. [Photo by Han Xianpu/for chinadaily.com.cn]

A road built along the cliffs of a gorge in Guizhou province has become a tourist hot spot.

Shibanhe village in Hezhang county had been locked in the mountains for generations, isolated and impoverished. To create a better future, residents took matters into their own hands — literally — and started building a road to the outside world using hand tools in 1999.

The result was miraculous. After three years of laborious construction, part of which involved cutting through some 470 meters of rock on a precarious cliff, the 7-kilometer-long road finally made it possible for agricultural products to be transported and sold in cities. Incomes in Shibanhe increased significantly.

With its unique landscapes, the village now plans to become an outdoor camping base focused on rural tourism.

Zhao Yandi contributed to this story.