In China, they have a new glass bridge, it is the longest in the world

Beijing - A glass bridge, which boasts the title of the longest in the world, was opened on Sunday in Chongjiu, a picturesque corner of Hebei province in northern China. The bridge is 488 meters long, two meters wide, and is suspended 218 meters high above the valley. According to China Daily, it is equivalent to the 66th floor of a hypothetical skyscraper. The bridge is "paved" with 1077 panes of clear glass, each four centimeters thick, weighing a total of 70 tons.

According to the local tourist office that organized the attraction, the bridge is designed to sway slightly underfoot, which reliably shakes the visitors as well. In addition to the thrilling walk, they can also enjoy the beauty of the surrounding scenery with views of mountain cliffs, waterfalls, ancient towns, and temples.

The structure can support more than 2000 visitors, but no more than 500 people are allowed on the glass bridge at the same time. "The capacity is more than three and a half times higher than required by standards, yet we will allow no more than 500 people to step on the bridge simultaneously," said project director Liu Qi-qi. The construction of the bridge, which is designed to withstand even the strongest gusts of wind, took a year and a half.

In recent years, more than a dozen picturesque areas in China's competitive domestic tourism market have constructed glass walkways. They are attached to rock faces or lead over canyons to attract more visitors by promising a somewhat scary but unforgettable experience.

The previous longest glass bridge - a 430-meter-long bridge in Hunan province - had to be closed last September after just two weeks of operation due to "urgent repairs," authorities reported. The structure, soaring 300 meters above a mountain gorge, faced a surge of visitors that exceeded the planned capacity by tenfold. However, no accidents have occurred there, and the bridge has not been damaged according to the operator.

Chongjiu is also a popular tourist destination, according to China Daily, due to its revolutionary past: from May 1948 to the spring of the following year, it hosted the leadership of the Communist Party.