The Guoliang Tunnel of China

The Guoliang Tunnel is located in the Taihang Mountains, in the Hunan Province of China. The story that led to it’s development is an inspiring one.

Before 1972, access to the nearby Guoliang village was limited to a very difficult path carved into the mountainside. The village was nestled in a valley surrounded by towering mountains. It was basically cut off from civilization. In 1972, a group of desperate villagers decided to take matters into their own hands - they would carve a road right into the side of the mountain by themselves.

So 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-meter-long tunnel (a little less than a mile) which is about 5 meters high (15 ft) and 4 meters (12 ft) wide. The tunnel has more than thirty windows dozens of meters across that provided a stunning view of the deadly precipice below. The tunnel was opened to traffic on May 1, 1977.