The two-story winding glass bridge attracts visitors in China

Ruyi Glass Bridge spanning Shenxianju valley in Zhejiang province, China is a popular attraction for adventurous tourists.

Ruyi is a new glass bridge built and welcoming visitors by the end of 2020. The bridge is located in Shenxianju scenic area, Taizhou city, Zhejiang province. When videos and images of Ruyi appeared on social networks, many people did not believe it was real. They claim these are fake images. However, after the flycam footage of Chris Hadfield was posted on Twitter, the bridge has attracted more than 200,000 visitors to check-in since September last year. According to Arquitectura Viva, the bridge was designed by He Yungchang, a steel structure expert who participated in designing the “Bird’s Nest” stadium for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The name of the bridge is derived from the design of the scepter (Jade Ruyi in English). According to the traditions of this country, the scepter symbolizes power and good fortune. The bridge stretches 100 m at an altitude of 140 m connecting two mountain ranges in the scenic area. Ruyi has a structure of 3 meandering paths with 2 bridges being an observatory. The observatory area and the middle part of the bridge are fitted with a transparent glass floor to create a strong feeling. In addition to Ruyi, China has about 2,300 glass bridges and glass walkways and slides, a number of works of monumental scale, impressive designs and world records. Pictured is a glass bottom bridge across the canyon in Zhangjiajie, inspired by the Hollywood blockbuster “Avatar”. Opened in August 2016, the bridge is 430 meters long, 6 meters wide, made of 99 transparent tempered glass panels assembled together. In 2017, Hongyagu scenic area opened the longest glass bridge in the world. The bridge is 488 m long, assembled from 1,077 panels of 4 cm thick glass, with a total weight of up to 70 tons. However, as of May 2018, this record was set for a straight diameter slide from top to bottom of a 568 m long Guangxi mountain. The first 3D glasses bridge over China’s Yellow River is a tourist destination not for the faint of heart. The bridge is 2.6 m wide, 210 m long, made up of 61 transparent glass panels and 77 3D glass panels. Here, visitors can see the stream flowing at the foot or the steep cliff thanks to the effect of 3D paintings on the glass.