Visitors must register for ‘world’s most dangerous hike’ in China after death plunge
Police appeal for information about the man, whose fall was captured on video
A popular tourist attraction in northwest China has a new policy requiring all visitors wanting to do a cliff-side mountain climb to register, after a man fell to his death from the trail last week.
It came after police appealed for information about the man, whose fall in Huashan National Park in Shaanxi province was captured on video, The Beijing News reported on Sunday.
Police have been unable to track down the man’s family to claim his body, which was found on Friday, because they could not identify him, the report said.
A video posted online shows the man unleashing his safety harness and plunging from the section of the Huashan trail where hikers negotiate narrow wooden planks installed along the cliff face.
Media reports have described the precipitous walk – on the east side of Huashan’s southern peak – as the “world’s most dangerous hiking trail”. Visitors must rent safety harnesses which they attach to guide ropes that run along the section of cliff. The path, which is about 30cm in places, leads to a teahouse built on the mountain some 2,160 metres (7,086 feet) up.