The carved tunnel
Inside the cliff.
FANG Chen from Beijing, China — CC BY 2.0 · 山海风 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · LosApos.com — CC BY-SA 3.0 · 山海风 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · LosApos.com — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Vitsuha — CC0 · LosApos.com — CC BY-SA 3.0 · 山海风 — CC BY-SA 3.0
A road carved into a towering cliff of the Taihang Mountains, running inside the rock along the edge of the drop, which links Guoliang village to the outside world; before it, the village sat cut off above the cliffs, reached only by a rough path cut into the mountain. In 1972 the villagers, led by Shen Mingxin, decided to carve their own way out: they sold their livestock to buy tools, and thirteen of them began the work, mostly with hammers and chisels, at the hardest stretch advancing just a metre every three days. The road opened to traffic on 1 May 1977; it runs about 1.2 kilometres, five metres high and four wide, pierced by window-like openings that look out from inside the cliff over a red-rock canyon. The stone-built village has become a draw for visitors and a film location, and visitors walk the carved tunnel, with cliffs, waterfalls and small pools around the village. The Wanxianshan ticket costs CNY 80, valid two days, the compulsory park bus 45, and combined tickets 105 to 125, with the buses running from 8 am to 6 pm, per visitor guides.
Inside the cliff.
Above the canyon.
Atop the cliffs.
Wanxianshan scenic area, Huixian, north-west of Xinxiang, Henan
Visitors' cars are generally not allowed on the road by day, so people use the park buses and walk the tunnel, per visitor guides.
Choices are few in the village, so bring food, but Henan has a large Hui Muslim community, and Xinxiang and Huixian have restaurants under the halal sign.