Jim McMahon/Mapman®
If you’re afraid of heights, you might want to avoid driving across the Huajiang (hwah-jyahng) Grand Canyon Bridge in China. It’s the world’s highest bridge, soaring 2,050 feet above a deep river gorge. The bridge is so high that the Washington Monument stacked on top of the Empire State Building would fit underneath it.
The record-setting structure solved a big problem in southern China when it opened this past fall. The bridge is in Guizhou (gway-joh) province, one of the country’s most mountainous regions. Driving across the canyon used to take as long as two hours. With the bridge, the same trip now takes about two minutes—and includes incredible views.
But people can do more than just drive across. A high-speed elevator alongside one of the bridge’s support towers zips visitors to a glass walkway 1,900 feet up. From there, people can look straight down to the rushing Beipan River below. Visitors can also keep going the rest of the way—ending half a mile up in the air—to sip hot drinks in the sky at the bridge’s café. And if they are feeling really brave? They can bungee jump off the bridge!
Chinese officials hope the bridge will increase tourism to Guizhou. The province has 32,000 other bridges either completed or under construction. That includes the second-highest bridge in the world: the Duge Bridge, which stands 1,854 feet above the Beipan River.
—Mary Kate Frank