No safe way to school for rural children

A ropeway over Xuandongzi Canyon is the only easy access to school for the children of Hongde Village, Shuicheng County, Southwest China's Guizhou Province, according to a report on voc.com.cn, a news website.

The report was based on a widely watched online video posted on Tuesday, which showed how children used a ropeway to cross an 80-meter gap between two mountains over the 140-meter canyon. Children had to squeeze themselves into a basket attached to the ropeway, which was then pulled by people on the opposite side of the canyon.

Normally children from Hongde Village have to walk an hour through a mountain path to the canyon, then take another half-hour walk to a nearby railway station, and board a train to Yingpan middle school.

This ropeway is also used by local residents to travel outside the village. Before the ropeway, they had to spend four or five hours to complete the journey.

Hui Defang, a local villager, set up the ropeway, saying that he constructed it to provide easy access to school for his child and other children in the village.

"My dream is to build a bridge over the canyon, to help the safety of over 2,000 villagers and children," Hui said.