A shaky chestcam video, a mist-shrouded iron ladder and one trembling question — “Is this the way to heaven?” — have propelled the 168-meter “sky ladder”, part of a via ferrata, or protected climbing route, in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province, into the global spotlight.
Posted on social media platform RedNote in March, the first-person clip captures a climber inching up metal rungs that vanish into clouds. The ladder sways with the movement of people above and below. “I’m almost there,” she whispers, sounding both frightened and unbowed.
The video was an instant hit, receiving more than 29,000 comments.
“My legs turned to jelly just from watching it,” one viewer wrote. Another one said, “It feels like I’m the one standing on that sky ladder.”
The buzz has traveled far beyond China.
By May, YouTube videos about the attraction had racked up more than 50 million views, while Instagram clips topped 100 million.
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