Multipurpose bridges inject vitality into tourism industry in China's mountainous Guizhou

A number of multipurpose bridges have injected vitality into the continued development of the tourism industry in mountainous area of southwest China's Guizhou Province.

There are more than 30,000 bridges which have been built or are under construction in Guizhou, known as the "Museum of Bridges".

At the Baling River Bridge in Anshun City's Guanling County, visitors can not only explore the interior of the bridge for tourism purposes, but also experience the thrill of bungee jumping.

The over 2,200-meter-long Baling River Bridge is about 370 meters above the water's surface. The bridge, a steel truss girder suspension one with the longest span in China when it was built, opened to the traffic in 2009.

At that time, the bridge helped cut the travel time across the gorge from one hour to merely a few minutes.

"I tried the bungee jumping, and I felt it was quite enjoyable, especially due to its novelty," said Lv Xun, a tourist from Zhejiang Province, east China.

A museum on bridge construction techniques and related technologies near the Baling River Bridge ha become a tourist hotspot in Guizhou.

Many tourists have visited the museum to gain knowledge about the types, structures, and designs of bridges.

"The Baling River Bridge has developed a significant sector dedicated to extreme sports. The bungee jumping at the Baling River Bridge is officially confirmed by the Guinness World Records as the world's highest commercial bungee jumping. In addition, a series of extreme sports activities such as high-altitude swings, skywalking, and low-altitude parachuting, have been introduced on the bridge. Since January 2024, we have received over 52,000 visitors and generated revenue of seven million yuan (about 0.96 million U.S. dollars)," said Zhao Xiong, director of Baling River Bridge Museum in Guizhou.

Transforming disadvantages into advantages, Guizhou is accelerating the unlocking of the potential inherent in its unique geographical resources.

Throughout this year, Guizhou has been persistently developing distinctive tourism products to cater to the diverse needs of visitors.

In the Wanfenglin geological park in Xingyi City of Qianxinan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, a natural air corridor formed by the local climate has created a perfect paragliding site. Serving as the first paragliding base in Guizhou, it has become a must-visit destination for many enthusiasts seeking to experience the activity.

"After experiencing paragliding, I felt incredibly relieved. It was absolutely amazing as I took off here for the first time and my feet left the ground. By seeing these mountains from such a perspective for the first time, I realized how beautiful the scenery of Guizhou truly is," said Zhang Dong, a paragliding enthusiast.

Multipurpose bridges inject vitality into tourism industry in China's mountainous Guizhou

President of the Republic of the Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso, on Thursday urged the consolidation of existing cooperation achievements between China and Africa to further benefit the peoples of both sides, noting that China remains an all-time friend for Central Africa

Sassou made the remarks on Thursday while delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing.

Africa, the president said, has walked side by side with China over the past five decades and witnessed China's diplomatic influence and economic development as it continues to move toward the center of the global stage.

"Since its establishment, FOCAC has become a platform for dialogue and cooperation. Africa-China ties have grown closer based on similar historical values and cohesion for all peoples. Therefore, modernization is not just a simple slogan, but our common aspiration. We must jointly pursue prosperity and peace for the benefit of our peoples. We need to uphold the spirit of mutual trust, pragmatism, mutual respect, and solidarity to realize the vision of common development," said Sassou.

To achieve these goals, he called for more efforts to consolidate coordination and enhance mutual understanding between Africa and China.

"We must consolidate the existing cooperation achievements to create new opportunities and bring a better future for generations to come. To this end, we need to strengthen coordination, which is the foundation of our cooperation. We should enhance Africa's understanding of China while also deepening China's understanding of Africa. We need to expand the points of consensus between Africa and China, strengthen the friendship between the peoples of both sides and actively promote the win-win cooperation between Africa and China," the president said.

Noting that China remains an all-time friend for Central Africa, President Sassou vowed to further enhance the role of the FOCAC in global governance through strengthened trade and investment, in order to better address the challenges in the development of Africa.

The three-day FOCAC summit, which opened on Wednesday, is the largest diplomatic event hosted by China in recent years, with the highest attendance of foreign leaders.

Themed "Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future," the event aims to strengthen friendship and outline future cooperation between the two sides.

Republic of Congo President calls for efforts to consolidate fruits in China-Africa relations