Trek to school defies danger

Think you have a tough commute? Fifteen children in a remote area of Southwest China either had to navigate a sheer cliff or trek for more than six hours just to get to school. For now, the youngsters, aged 6 to 15, are stuck with trekking to class because the local government has closed the rattan ladder they use to climb the 800-meter cliff face due to safety concerns.

Residents of all ages in Atuler village in Sichuan province use the ladder - actually, 17 different ladders fixed to the cliff by timber and steel bars - to get to the nearest market, which is several kilometers away, to buy groceries and daily necessities. It takes about two hours to go up and 90 minutes to come down. Not long ago, villagers say, a man in his 40s died after falling off the ladder.

The local authorities have vowed to upgrade the ladder and make it safer, especially for children who travel between the village and their boarding school once every two weeks.

Lin Shucheng, Party chief of Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture, has promised that a steel ladder will be built to replace the rattan construction.

Api Jiti, Party chief of Zhimo'er township, which governs Atuler, says students will need to follow the six-hour detour until the new ladder is finished. "We'd rather have them spend more time on their journey than put them at risk," he says. But many netizens question why they had not said this before it was reported.

Not that the longer route is any less perilous. According to parents, it involves passing through landslide areas, forests with snakes and a 50-meter, pitch-black tunnel. One villager, Chen Guji, says the ladder is as old as the village, perhaps hundreds of years.

In Atuler, most families live in houses made of mud, thatch and wood. Locals say their ancestors chose to settle in the area to hide from tribal conflicts. Today, most people here survive on less than $1 a day.

"Our main income is from pepper and walnuts," says village head Er Dijiang. "The buyers know we're from a mountaintop village and that we don't want to carry the pepper and walnuts back, so they offer a very low price. We have no choice."

Party chief Api adds: "It's impossible to build a school on the mountaintop because the area is too small. The school down the mountain has reliable power and water supplies, and the living conditions are much better." Tuition is free, but the cost of boarding is 300 yuan ($45; 40 euros) a semester.

Another local official says it would be unrealistic to relocate the village because the people's land is on the mountain and they would lose it if they moved.

Ke Lage, Party chief of Zhaojue county, adds that the government is considering approaching potential investors to turn the local ethnic culture and picturesque scenery into a tourist attraction.

Li Yang contributed to this story.