These Chinese Kids Have to Climb Down an 800 Meter Cliff Just to Get to School

May 26, 2016

Remember how your grandparents might have told you unbelievable stories to highlight how easy kids have it these days? This group of children in China can probably brag that they have it harder than anyone.

Photos of Chinese children scaling an 800 meter cliff, or almost nine football fields, to get to school blows any story out of the water. The 15 children who reside in the cliffside Atule’er Village in southernmost Sichuan make this dangerous trek told every day they have school.

According to NetEase, the children make their way up and down a series of 17 ladders that are placed against the 800-meter-tall cliff. It’s not surprising that eight people in the past have fallen to their deaths using these ladders.

The village that these children live in consists of 72 households. Villagers live in the remote cliffside with poor cellular service and an undeniably great need for roads.

Since the story along with the images of the children have gone viral on the Chinese net, the local government has received pressure from the public to take initiative. After paying a visit to the village earlier this week, officials announced that they will be constructing steel stairs in place of the shabby ladder.

h/t: Shanghaiist

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