I Walked Across the Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge in China

Eden Washington is a 6th grade FNN reporter at Friendship Public Charter School Online. Photos from Google.

March 24, 2021.  Take a walk with me down memory lane. I attended the Passport DC Embassy Tour in 2019 and was fortunate enough to get into the Chinese Embassy.  I was excited because having been a student in a Chinese immersion program afforded me the ability to communicate with native Mandarin speakers.  While touring the embassy, I was surprised to learn that China just opened its borders to allow travelers to experience their country within the past 40 years.  According to Wikipedia, “In the late 1970’s, Deng Xiaoping decided to promote tourism vigorously as a means of earning foreign exchange, so China started to develop its tourism industry.”  

Fast forward to today. I am visiting the Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in the Hunan Province of China.  It is supposed to represent the creativity and inventive power of New China.  It is for adventurous thrill seekers and far exceeds my expectation for thrill seeking.  This glass bridge has been open to the public since August 20, 2016. The construction and materials used are quite familiar to me, as the steel and suspension design is also used for the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.  However, the Brooklyn Bridge was constructed for cars as opposed to foot traffic and is less scary to cross.  This Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge is a skywalk/footbridge that hangs 1,180 ft. above the canyon.  It is 1,410 ft. long, and 46 ft. wide.  It is designed to support the weight of 800 visitors at a time.  There are three layers of 2-inch glass panels, so each panel is actually 6 inches thick, and is structured to withstand more than 40 tons. The clearance below the bridge is 980 ft. which apparently is GREAT for those who can’t wait to go bungee jumping—another attraction which was added to the underpart of the bridge just this past December.  

While I will say it is beautiful to look at from a distance, I am having BIG reservations about walking across this bridge.  Please allow me to vent as I stand at the threshold before entering the bridge. It had not been opened long enough for me to even think of walking across it. Thirteen days after it initially opened, it was closed due to overwhelming visitor traffic. In my research, I discovered that two people have died as a result of safety breaches. One man could not get his footing, slipped, flipped the railing, and flew off the side of the bridge. Let me just say, my super power is NOT flying, so I’m gonna leave that to R. Kelly.  

This bridge kind of reminds me of the bridge in the Wizard of Oz, only there is no “yellow brick road.”  I wish there was an Oz along the way to this bridge, ‘cause I’m gon’ need some courage?  I figured out that 1,410 ft. is equivalent to 0.26 miles and it would take me about six minutes to walk across this bridge at a moderate pace. I won’t see much, cause I’m NOT looking down or over the sides, although some people have the nerve to lay down on the glass and take pictures. I wished I could put myself in a bubble and just float over the bridge.  

If I don’t walk across the bridge, will I still get my next coordinates?  You know in the reality show the Amazing Race, they offer contestants who’ve won previous episodes express passes to bypass events or attractions. I wonder if they do that for this race?  They should offer chopper rides over these canyons to see under and over the bridge.  Look, the people that were just ahead of me are almost to the other side, and I still haven’t gotten started yet. I heard one tourist say he’s been across once before and “it’s not that bad once you get used to it”.  Well, how soon does that happen?  ‘Cause I’m sure I will not get used to it until I am on the other side.  The tour guide keeps looking at me strangely, because I haven’t moved from this spot yet.  I bet he’s going to walk over to me.  That’s fine, cause I’ll just impress him with my Mandarin skills. The Chinese never expect a little brown girl to know how to speak their language, so they are extremely flattered and get a huge kick out of it.  

Here he comes, “Why have you stopped, you need to move along?”  

“Wo gan jue bu hao, deng yi deng,” I say.  (I don’t feel well, just a second).  He shoos me along anyway. Jeez, the “I don’t feel well” routine usually works.  

Anywho, this family heard me speaking in Mandarin and was more impressed than the tour guide, and didn’t mind if I walked across with them. Their daughter is just as terrified as I am. If her parents don’t mind, we’ll hold hands.  So we walked across the bridge chatting about what else there was to experience in the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, the Hunan Province, and other nearby attractions that were easy to get to.  Funny thing is that there were several adults who were scared as well. One lady stopped and tears started to roll. “Help me understand how you are so scared that you stopped in the middle of the bridge,” I said to my new friend.  Keep it moving!  Folks were holding on to the railing. One man started crawling.  Why do that to yourself, just to say you crossed a bridge?  Why anyone would travel this far to be scared out of their mind is beyond me, but to each his reach. I’m staying grounded.

In the future, when Mrs.G asks if there are any “questions,”(pronounced: KWES-CHEE-OWN-ES), I will know to ask about Amazing Race express passes to bypass any more terrifying adventures.

Eden Washington is a 6th grade scholar at Friendship Public Charter School Online.