'Cliff village' attracts tourists with its rattan ladders

A series of rattan ladders that used to be the only way up and down for 500 villagers living atop a cliff have become a tourist attraction in Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture in Sichuan province.

Life in what has been characterized as a "cliff village" first garnered nationwide attention in May 2016, when a Chinese newspaper published a collection of photos featuring students scaling the 1,400-meter cliff on rattan ladders.

When residents refused to leave the site despite the difficulties of living there, the local government spent 1 million yuan ($147,000) to add a steel ladder with a handrail that has cut travel time to the nearest town from three hours to one.