… there are two ways
to get to the village. One is to climb the Tianti, a stairway cut into
the rocky mountain, while another is to travel through the Guoliang
Tunnel.
We chose the tunnel.
Sitting by the elderly driver I was lucky to hear the story about the
tunnel.
Before 1972, the path
chiseled into the rock used to be the only access linking the village
with the outside world. Then the villagers decided to dig a tunnel
through the rocky cliff.
Led by Shen Mingxin,
head of the village, they sold goats and herbs to buy hammers and steel
tools. Thirteen strong villagers began the project.
It took them five
years to finish the 1,200-metre-long tunnel which is about 5 meters high
and 4 meters wide. Some of the villagers even gave their lives to it. On
May 1, 1977, the tunnel was opened to traffic.
When I was mulling
over what the tunnel looked like, the van started a very steep ascent.
I looked up and could
not move my eyes away - it was so beautiful!
