Tourist Shatters 3,540ft-High Glass Walkway, Panic Ensues

Getty Images/STR
Getty Images/STR

Barely two weeks after it opened, China's impressive Yuntaishan glass skywalk terrified visitors when a section of its transparent floor panels cracked and shattered underneath their feet. Because, y'know, it's made of glass.

Although the 853ft-long, 3,540ft-high walkway has seen swarms of tourists since its completion, it wasn't until around 5pm on Monday that one of them experienced everyone's worst fear when standing on a sheet of glass over a gaping chasm: namely, that sheet cracking beneath their feet.



As Lee Dong Hai -- the man in question -- explained on his Weibo page, "My foot shook a little. I looked down and I saw that there was a crack in the floor. A lot of people started to scream. I screamed out, 'It cracked! It really cracked!' and then I pushed the people in front of me so that we could run out of the way." Yeah, not exactly a confidence booster.

The walkway was immediately evacuated without incident, and officials were brought in to assess the damage, ultimately determining that the structure's integrity wasn't compromised (as only one of the floor's three glass layers was broken). A similar incident occurred last year at the observation deck on Chicago's Willis Tower, although an open-air walkway on the side of a mountain's probably a bit scarier.

Oh, and the cause of the shattered panel? Simple: someone dropped a stainless steel mug on it. So, maybe go with a plastic cup next time? Or, better yet, just avoid glass-bottomed walkways altogether.


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Gianni Jaccoma is a staff writer for Thrillist, and he’s already scared of heights enough as it is. Follow his vertigo-laden tweets @gjaccoma, and send your news tips to news@thrillist.com