Recently, a video taken by CNN & BBC detonated the foreign social web. It describes a story about climbing cliffs without ropes or any other tools in Miao ancestry. This is not a recreational activity but a traditional pass down for hundreds of years.
The woman in the video named Luo Dengping from the Miao minority group, who has been climbing with no ropes in this part of Guizhou province, Chine, for centuries. It was local custom to climb these steep cliffs and place coffins of deceased relatives there. Villagers later used these skills to collect swallow dung for fertilizer, and herbs as medicine.
Many visitors came and wanted to see how we collected the herbs. They paid us to show them how we did it. We thought that would be an easier way to make money. Since more Chinese user Western medicine, climbers can no longer make enough money selling herbs.
Some villagers are now hired by the local tourism board to do no-rope climbing performances for tourists. They are known as “spider men” in Chine and make 900RMB ($137) a month base salary, with 0.3RMB commission for each tourist through the gate. They climb 100m up the cliffs two times a day and have four days off every month.
It is please news that we let the world know more about our minority activity. But some villagers do not have a strong body like a young man anymore. It is dangerous when climbing if they are physical overdraft. Relative government should notice this phenomenon and make some protective measures for them.
For safety sake, our normal person should prepare enough when we do some outdoor excise. We should wear professional equipment like safety vest with reflective tape or reflective heat transfer film, special shoes and etc. These equipment not only can avoid hurting but also can help if something wrong happens unexpectedly.
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