Villagers in southwest China hang on for dear life to cross rivers on ziplines

When the residents of Chinese mountain village Lazimi want to go across the river to the market, they put on a harness and clip themselves onto a cable slung across a raging river. Slanted downhill and mostly relying on gravity, they literally zip across the water to the other side. The Nu river, which literally means "angry" river in Chinese, snakes from Tibet along the Myanmar border through Yunnan province and in many places, the rapids over the jagged rocks are too violent for boats to navigate. The rough and isolated area lacks proper roads and bridges and the ethnic Lisu people who live here have been using ziplines for decades. Operated by some men who live in the village located in China's southwest, it is free for those who live there but visitors and tourists are charged around 50 yuan ($8) for the ride. Cha Huilan, a mother of two, makes frequent trips across the river to buy medicine for her sick mother. The unorthodox transportation is not only inconvenient but harrowing since she often takes her two-year-old child with her to go shopping or to go to church. The child clings to her for dear life throughout the journey. People in the Nu River area estimate that there are about 20 to 30 villages which still rely on theziplines as their primary means of transport across the river, even if they are not always reliable. When it rains, they become even more dangerous due to the slippery conditions. But it may only be a matter of time before the Nu River inhabitants get a bridge. In Fugong county, an eight hour-drive away from Lazimi, several zip-line villages remain, but surrounding roadside construction projects are building bridges at an accelerating rate.