Living on a 4,600ft Cliff: One of China’s MOST Dangerous Villages is Changing Forever |Travel China|

This is a minority village built on a cliff with a vertical drop of 90 degrees and a height of 1,400 meters, equivalent to three Shanghai Oriental Pearl TV Towers. Look at this. This is incredible. Look at how vertical this path is. Going up and down is a big challenge for locals. This is the most difficult part. But now all of this are changing. This is Gulu village in Xiping province, a village that once had no roads. Today let's walk along this cliff path and see how they live in a different way. I've never seen anything like this. Imagine at the entrance of this huge canyon, there is a nearly 90-degree vertical cliff with an altitude of 1,400 meters, equivalent to more than 400 floors. And there is a mysterious village, Gulu village. It's just built right on the top of that cliff. And I'm not sure where is it. So I'm going to follow this 90-degree vertical cliff path to find it. Oh my god, I feel so small standing in front of it. Look at this road. It's not paved at all. But people did it on purpose. There was no such road before. And this road is built later to prevent the horse and mules from slipping. And now it can help me prevent slipping. Every 15 meters, every corner, there is a trash can. From that corner to this corner, there are four trash cans. The distance is not very long, but it's really tiring to climb up here. I saw a guy is carrying something. The long stick or wood something. I'm not sure. And he's sitting there taking some rest. Oh my god, this man is really really strong. He's carrying the wood to build a house. And he needs to do it in this way 10 times per day. It's really windy in this canyon. But that guy is wearing a t-shirt and he's sweating. How many soups can you make in a day? In a day? Yeah. There is a restaurant. This is the menu. Bottled water, 4 yuan. Cola, 6 yuan. Red Bull, 10 yuan. Do you think this is expensive? Cash may not be working here because that restaurant owner may not have that much change. And in China, the default preferred payment is WeChat Pay or Alipay. And of course, you can use cash. Because it's illegal to refuse cash in China. But it's kind of trouble to get change. Cliff restaurant menu. Chicken, 88 yuan. Fried vegetable, 20 yuan. Tomato, fried egg, 25 yuan. This is my noodle. It looks so delicious. 18 yuan. I like spicy noodle. It's already 11.30 am in the morning. I'm really hungry. And I thought this is the destination, the Gulu village. But that lady told me that no, this is not. I have to climb another two hours. So I'll have my lunch first. Well, it looks spicy. But it doesn't taste spicy at all. Can't I take off my clothes? Yes, you can. But you can't take off your clothes when you come down. Because the road is too steep. If you come down, you'll be in trouble. Mimi. This restaurant provides free tour guide, free toilet, free water, free restroom, and free for storing the luggage. But look at this. The meat is not free. These are the preserved meat. And this is the sausage. The pig's feet. Are you afraid of eating the pig's feet? And I guess this is the feet or pork. And this is the fireplace. The firewood will be placed at the bottom. And the smoke will burn these meats. Coffee house. Cappuccino. 30 yuan. Latte, 30 yuan. Oh my god, it's too expensive. Another coffee house. The Cliff Coffee House. Black coffee, 28 yuan. Latte, 35 yuan. Oh my god, it's even more expensive. Look what I found. Meow. Thank you. Can I have a cup of coffee? Are you shy? I'm shy. Thank you. This is the lemon flower tea. It's less than 10,000 yuan. Is this a fruit? It tastes like an apple. Sweet and a bit sour. Thank you. Okay, from now on, I'm standing at the starting point of the second section of this cliff path. It has the longest vertical drop. And it's the most challenging part. Look at this. This is incredible. Look at how vertical this path is. In the first section of this cliff path, I saw many villagers leading the mules and horse going up and going down. In the second section of this path, I didn't see any animals except dogs and cats. So I'm wondering how do they carry products to the top. This is amazing. This cable car is not for people to take. This is for carrying the products. You have to take the cable car to carry the products. The ancient road is also built for you? Yes, the ancient road is built for you. How much does it cost? Which one? The cable car and the ancient road. The cable car is 2,300 yuan. The horse car is more than 1 million yuan. I've never seen such kind of the cable car before since this place is too high. Like the soil and sands cannot be carried by people. But look at that. That one is for people to take. The orange one. We've been staying at home for the past two or three years. We sell some things, and go sightseeing. And we also take the cable car. Because you came back when you were alive? Yes. I was always outside before. So you must have earned more money at home than outside. That's why you came back. Almost. Because if you work at home, you can take care of the adults and children at home. Yes. If you don't have the cable car, when will you come back? When will we come back? We won't come back for a few months. We're about a few kilometers away from here to that Gulu village. But there is no transportation since here. And I can rent a motorbike like this. But it's 15 yuan. I think it's kind of expensive. And I think I just walk to that Gulu village. Look at this road. It looks so smooth, so nice. I think it's easier than walking on that dirt path. So I think it might take 30 minutes or 40 minutes. I'm exhausted. Have some breath. Come on. The main people who live in that Gulu village are the Yi ethnic group. Look at this. These are the Mandarin. And this, I guess, is the Yi language. Do you want to sit on the car over there? How much is it? 10 yuan. I'll send you a number. I'll call you. I'll send you a number first, okay? I'll call you again if I need it. 188. Okay, thank you. I'll call you later. Okay, thank you. Oh my god, I finally got here. I spent like 30 minutes. I think 30 minutes save 50 yuan. It's worth it. Look at the view here. This might be the original house here. Look at this. It looks so primitive. It's made by the mud. I feel so close to that nest for crabs. I think I can grab it. This used to be a school. But now it has become the history museum of this village. That is the playground for children. This is how the classroom looks like in the past. And in the past, the children put their school bags on the back of the horse. This is how the playground looks like in the past. Since this place is so isolated, so no teachers wanted to come here to work. Imagine that every day you wake up and then climb the fathom ladder for three hours to go up like this. Like this ladder. And then work for eight hours. And then climb this ladder again for another three hours to go down. I think I'm in the wrong. I'm in some people's backyard. I thought this was your home. I didn't dare to come here. I went through your house. Somebody is living here. Honey, are you listening to the meat? Yes. The wheat cloth is also yours? Yes. How is business today? Business is good. What about the children? What do they do? Didn't you go to the ancient village before? You walked up here every day. The water here is very dry. That's dangerous. Yes, it's dangerous. The nut oil. And this is the Sichuan pepper oil. Look at these two oils. They look so similar. I can't distinguish. Thank you. The specialty food here is not. It's okay. Although tourism has brought some vitality and economic benefits to the village, most young people still choose to work outside, hoping that this village will get better and better in the future and people will have more opportunities. And thank you very much for watching this video. I will see you in the next one.