World's Longest and Highest Glass-Bottomed Bridge Opens In China's 'Avatar' Mountains

Travel

If you suffer from vertigo, you might want to avoid the world's longest and highest glass bridge that opened this weekend in China.

ByPam Wright•August 22, 2016

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If you suffer from vertigo, this might not be the destination for you. For others, the world's longest and highest glass-bottomed bridge that opened in China's "Avatar" mountains this weekend is one that must not be missed.

The bridge, which opened to the public on Saturday, crosses between two peaks in the mountains of Zhangjiajie — the same mountains that were reportedly the inspiration for the Hallelujah Mountains depicted in the popular 2009 James Cameron film"Avatar".

According to ABC Australia, if you do plan on making the trip to the UNESCO World Heritage site in the Hunan Province, you might want to hold off a few weeks considering Saturday's opening day was so crowded that it became difficult for visitors to even get a single dizzying glimpse of the sheer drop below.

A visitor strikes the glass-bottomed bridge with a hammer for a safety test at Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon on June 25, 2016 in Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province of China. World's tallest and longest glass-bottomed bridge has been completed and took a global broadcast through television and internet medias to show its safety. More than thirty citizens and visitors struck the bridge with a hammer in the test event.
(Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

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Visitors were so excited to be the first brave souls to cross the bridge that many lined up the night before to be first in line to traverse the 1,400-foot expanse, some 984 feet above the ground below.

An official in Zhangjiajie told China's state news agency Xinhua that the bridge can safely support 800 individuals at any given moment.

To demonstrate the bridge's safety, especially after a glass bridge cracked in Yuntan Mountain in 2015, authorities at Zhangjiajie organized a series of media events that encouraged people to try and smash the bridge's glass panels with a sledgehammer. In another, a car was driven across the bridge to demonstrate the integrity of the structure.

Despite its apparent integrity, only 8,000 people each day will be permitted to cross the bridge and only 600 will be permitted on the glass-bottomed bridge at a time, Xinhua said.

The cost of a trip across the glass bridge above the "Grand Canyon" of China comes to about $20, but you must leave behind your selfie stick and stiletto heels, as they are banned from the mesmerizing experience.

The bridge will be closed to the public should high winds or other inclement weather arise.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Zhangjiajie, China Glass Bridge

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Visitors cross the world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge above a valley in Zhangjiajie in China's Hunan Province on August 21, 2016.

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