Traversing a glass walkway along the sides of a beautiful mountain 3,543 feet above-ground can be a relaxing and unforgettable way to spend the holidays for nature-loving tourist. Unfortunately for some tourists enjoying the newly opened Yuntaishan glass walkway on Oct. 5, what they experienced was panic when a glass panel suddenly cracked as they walked on it while appreciating the scenery.
Yuntaishan over-cliff glass bridge cracked in C China Oct. 5, causing panic among visitors https://t.co/t1tnM4GMZc pic.twitter.com/gEsqZDs4oj
— People's Daily,China (@PDChina) October 6, 2015
Lee Dong Hai, a local tourist who was on the bridge when the glass panel cracked, posted about the incident on Weibo, China's version of Twitter. Lee said that the bridge shook a little before the crack was spotted and panicked tourists began to scream, but he soon deleted his posts because of the attention the media was giving him. There were no reports of injuries among the tourists who were quickly evacuated when the incident occurred.
The bridge is constructed so that each panel of glass is composed of three layers and, according to a spokesperson from the Yuntai Mountain tourism bureau, only one of the layers was cracked after a tourist dropped a stainless steel thermos on it, hence, the tourists were not in any immediate danger.
The 900-foot glass bridge is located along the Yuntai Mountain Geological Park in China's Henan Province and had only been opened to tourists since Sept. 20 but because of the incident, the bureau announced that the bridge is closed to the public until further notice.
The Yuntai Mountain glass bridge is only one among the several glass walkways being constructed all over China, but it is possible that this incident could affect tourism in other sites. Among them, one of the much awaited glass bridges set to open to the public this October, is the world's tallest and longest glass pedestrian bridge located in Zhangjiajie National Park.
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