Students go to school by cable car, sightseeing elevator in SW China's Yunnan

For decades, students from Guanzhai Primary School in Puli town, Xuanwei city, in southwest China's Yunnan Province had a three-hour commute to school. Now, it only takes them 30 minutes.

Students take a cable car to school. (Photo/People's Daily Online)

On Sunday, the students eagerly piled into an elevator. Excitement filled the air as they chattered amongst themselves. Every 10 days, nine students from different grades, along with their parents, embark on a journey from Nizhuhe village, located at an elevation of 1,100 meters, to Guanzhai Primary School, located at an elevation of 1,650 meters. They get around using shuttle buses, a scenic elevator, and cable cars.

"In the past, it used to take me over three hours to accompany my eldest child to school, relying solely on my hands and feet, with the round trip lasting six to seven hours. Now, as I send my second child off to school, we have the convenience of taking the elevator and cable car. The journey from home to school now only takes half an hour. By taking the shuttle bus in the scenic area, we can reach the school in as little as 12 minutes," said Zhao Suzhen, a local villager.

An adult accompanies students as they climb a cliff to get to school. (File photo)

Guanzhai Primary School is situated in the Nizhu River Canyon scenic area at the border of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. The school operates as a boarding school, accommodating 51 students from grades one to five, including nine students from Nizhuhe village. Over the years, the village has appeared to be cut off from the world, with towering cliffs extending endlessly, making it a challenging journey for the students to trek up the mountain to school.

In 2015, Puli town tackled the toughest 3.5-kilometer section by cutting footholds with electric saws, installing chains on steep cliffs and slippery rocks, and creating new paths for rainy days. Additionally, stone pathways were built to ensure the safety of students walking to school.

An adult accompanies a girl to climb the cliff to go to school. (File photo)

In 2016, the town continued to enhance safety measures along the students' route to school by adding aluminum alloy guardrails and laying new paths. At the end of 2018, the town continued to attract investment, and the cliff elevator project officially commenced construction.

In 2022, the Nizhu River Canyon scenic area was completed, opening up free access to local villagers. The combination of a 268-meter-tall outdoor sightseeing elevator and a cable car line with a nearly 200-meter height difference turned the previous three-hour climbing route before 2014 into a 30-minute trip, becoming a "school bus" for local students.