Guoliang Tunnel

This tunnel is located in the Taihang Mountains which are situated in the Hunan Province of China.  There is an interesting story behind its development.  Before 1972, access to the nearby Guoliang village was limited to a very difficult path carved into the mountainside.  The village was nestled in a valley surrounded by towering mountains.  It was basically cut off from civilization.
 
1972, a group of desperate villagers decided to take matters into their own hands - they would carve a road right into the side of the mountain by themselves!

Shen Mingxin was the head of the village.  He insisted that the villagers needed to embrace this project.

So they sold goats and herbs to buy hammers and steel tools. Thirteen strong villagers began the project. It took them five years to finish the 1,200-metre-long tunnel (a little less than a mile) which is about 5 meters high (15 ft) and 4 meters (12 ft) wide.

Not only was the project arduous, it was also dangerous.  Some of the villagers died in accidents during construction.  Undaunted, the others continued.  On May 1, 1977, the tunnel was opened to traffic.

Believe it or not, this story has a very happy ending.  The villagers incredible gamble paid off in a big way.  At the turn of the century, China began to open its borders to the rest of the world.  It was decided the benefits of tourism outweighed the disruption of having outsiders tromping around the country.  So government officials visited this area and decided it was a perfect tourist attraction.  Suddenly the little village that had been cut off from the world had thousands of visitors from every part of the world! 

Here is a writeup from a Chinese Tourism Website:  Turning to the north, we came to Taihang Mountains in Huixian County. The local government has explored several scenic spots to develop tourism, among which the most attractive were Guoliang Cave with its red mountains (exposed red shale). Local villagers cut a tunnel road through the mountain and named it Guoliang Cave.

Before the construction of the tunnel, Guoliang Village was almost cut off from its surrounding towns and villages. A dangerous ladder on the side of a precipitous cliff was the only route in and out of the village.

Today the situation has totally changed. Guoliang Village has become a pearl of Taihang Mountains because of its unique scenery and stone buildings.

Mind you, this work was done by 13 untrained villagers who had to trade practically every animal they owned to buy modern tools. 

They had no idea how their gamble would pay off.   For five years, they labored. Nor could they tend to their farms very much while they worked.  In poker terms, this is called "Going All In."  They literally bet the farm on this project! 

I doubt seriously that Hollywood has ever heard of this place, but I can imagine the story would make for a very interesting movie.

You have to hand it to the villagers.  The moment they opened their tunnel to vehicles, they quickly came up with a great marketing slogan:

- The Road that does not tolerate any mistakes

At a glance, this road doesn't look anywhere near as dangerous as that monster in Bolivia, but on the other hand, you might notice that open stretch in the side of the mountain.  Maybe there is some danger!

Plus with a road only 12 feet wide, I can't imagine two-way traffic either.

I certainly hope they keep a close watch on traffic. 

Otherwise those tourists in the picture on the left would be toast. 

It isn't like they have any place to hide from an oncoming car.  I guess they would have to throw themselves against the side of the rock.

Or maybe they could take their chances and jump off the side.

What do you think?  Good idea?

Here is a writeup I found on the Internet:

"We chose to go through the tunnel.  Sitting by the elderly driver I heard the story about how the tunnel was created.  Before 1972, the path chiseled into the rock used to be the only access linking the village with the outside world. Then the villagers decided to dig a tunnel through the rocky cliff.

When I was mulling over what the tunnel looked like, the van started a very steep ascent. I looked up and could not move my eyes away - it was so beautiful!

All of us were excited by the vision.

We found ourselves in extremely gorgeous surroundings - against the blue sky, with a path frighteningly narrow, and the cliffs piercing the sky.

All of my fellow "donkeys" stopped talking; some were busy taking photos, some were just dumbfounded. The golden sun shone upon the ground and through the air vents in the rocky wall of the tunnel. We were sometimes in the dark and sometimes in the light. I was deeply moved and even wanted to cry, for the sacred Guoliang Tunnel and for what the villagers have done - to triumph over nature.

In about an hour, the small van slowly took us to the unsophisticated village surrounded by the towering mountains.

The village, more than 1,200 meters above the sea level, seemed as if it had retreated from the world.  The story of Shangri-La crossed my mind.

Everything there was made of stone: the village gate, roads, bridges, houses, tables, stools, bowls and chop sticks.  It is said the village originated from Guo Liang, a peasant army leader who used to fight there in the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24).

There are currently about 83 households in the village with 329 people."

Here is another look at that open stretch I pointed out earlier. 

Maybe that slogan about not tolerating any mistakes refers to this part of the road!

Take a look at the rubble below at the bottom of the canyon. 

This leads me to speculate that this picture was taken during the construction of the tunnel.

I also think a reason the area was barren because it was winter time.  Obviously the tree in the picture doesn't have any leaves.

In this picture, you can make out two vehicles driving on that open stretch.

Too cool.

This picture was likely taken long after the construction was over.

Notice how much vegetation there is compared to the picture above of the same spot which is totally barren. 

 I believe this picture lends support to my guess that the barren pictures were taken during construction.

Guoliang Tunnel is different from other road tunnels; it is quiet, secluded and mysterious, bright one minute and dim the next, full of twists and turns.

The wall of the tunnel is uneven and there are more than 30 "windows" of different sizes and shapes.

Some windows are round and some are square, and they range from dozens of meters long to standard-window-size.

It is frightening to look down from the windows, where strange rocks hanging form the sheer cliff above and a seemingly bottomless pit lying below.

Walking through the twisted tunnel is like walking through a labyrinth as the window light mingles with the shadows inside the tunnel.

And the stroll can be unsettling - you never know when the the sound of a motor might come from behind, sending tourists scrambling desperately in search of a safe place.