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Escalators on mountain stir debate in China
‘Painless mountain climbing’: critics say tourist escalators at China scenic spots ‘kill’ joy of hiking
- Installation of 350-metre moving mountainside walkway helps tourists enjoy views better, reach peak faster
- Escalators cut journey time to peak but critics say they remove joy of hiking, detract from natural beauty of area
Tour operators in China have installed escalators on a mountainside to help visitors enjoy the views without having to endure the challenges of climbing. But not everybody is a fan.
Some have praised the amenity for bringing convenience to the elderly and very young, but some say it destroys the joy of climbing and the natural beauty of the area.
Online critics say moving walkways create “no-pain mountain climbing”, and while this service makes it easier and quicker to reach the top, it ruins the physical experience of hiking.
The escalator was built on Tianyu Mountain, Chunan county in eastern Zhejiang province, last year.
It now takes just 10 minutes to arrive at the end of the moving walkway before visitors complete the last 3 kilometres of the journey to the peak on foot. The total trip used to take 50 minutes.
“I haven’t walked a single step to scale most of the mountain, and I haven’t missed any scenic spots,” one delighted visitor said.
A manager, surnamed Xu, from a tourism development company said: “Our initial idea was to build a cable car. But that carries far fewer people and is riskier.”
The amenity, which is 350 metres long and divided into three sections, cost 10 million yuan (US$1.4 million) to build. A ticket costs 30 yuan (US$4).
It ascends to 120 metres, cutting the total travel time to the peak considerably: “We just want to give visitors a new option,” Xu said.
China has other mountainside escalators, such as the 104-metre-long South Sky Ladder in the Shenxianju Tour Zone in Taizhou of eastern China’s Zhejiang province, which was built three years ago.
“Our tour zone covers an area of 60 sq km and the highest place is 900 metres above sea level. It’s physically challenging for most tourists to walk around the whole tour zone,” Gu Qiaolu, a manager at Shenxianju Tour Group, said.
“Even young people feel exhausted from climbing this mountain. Hoping to make tourists’ trips easier and convenient, we have installed both the cableway and escalator, so that people can enjoy the natural scenery easily,” she said.
News of the “no-pain” mountain climbing caused a buzz online and divided opinion.
“It’s awesome for the elderly and children. You don’t need to climb by yourself. Just stand on the escalator. In a word, my kid is happy and I am happy,” said one poster on Weibo.
“I absolutely support this idea of a mountain escalator. Everyone takes what he needs. Those willing to climb the mountain just go climbing. But for me, I prefer to use the escalator,” another person wrote.
Others disagreed: “So what’s the point of climbing the mountain? I think that joy has gone,” said one person.
“Don’t you see the escalators take away from the natural beauty of the mountain ?” asked another.
