The Atulie'er village (Chinese: 阿土列尔村; pinyin: Ātǔliè ěr cūn), also transliterated as Atuleer, and Ado Ler, is located in the Zhi'ermo Township [zh] of Zhaojue County. The Atulie'er village is home to 72 families.[1]

Atulie'er
阿土列尔村
Map
Coordinates: 28°03′15″N 103°16′22″E / 28.0541437°N 103.2727933°E / 28.0541437; 103.2727933
CountryPeople's Republic of China
ProvinceSichuan
Autonomous prefectureLiangshan
CountyZhaojue
TownshipZhi'ermo Township

The village was the focus of a Chinese news video and photojournalism that became international news in May, 2016.[2] Due to the 200 year-old village's isolated location, perched like the seat of a chair with near-vertical cliffs both above and below, village children must use a series of handmade vine ladders to scale the 2,625 feet (800 m) cliff to reach a school in the river valley below.[1] Parents supervise their children during the crossing due to the potential hazards.[citation needed] Students travel between their school and their residences every two weeks, and for the school period reside in dormitories on campus due to the ladder situation.[3]

In 2015 Chen Jie of The Beijing News photographed the children on the ladder. The pictures went viral on the internet, prompting local authorities to announce that they will construct a staircase to serve the students.[4] In 2020, the Chinese government began relocating the majority of Atulie'er's residents to the county seat of Zhaojue and converting the remaining village to a tourist site.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b Chi, Ma (25 May 2016). "Kids climb vine ladder in 'cliff village' in Sichuan". China People's Daily. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  2. ^ "China to replace treacherous 2,625-foot ladder to school with stairs." Fox News. May 27, 2016. Retrieved on May 28, 2016.
  3. ^ May, Ashley. "15 Chinese children make deadly climb to school" (Archived 2016-05-30 at the Wayback Machine). USA Today. May 27, 2016. Retrieved on May 30, 2016.
  4. ^ Phillips, Tom (May 27, 2016). "World's scariest school run? Chinese children tackle 800-metre cliff". The Guardian. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
  5. ^ Tan, Yvette (14 May 2020). "China relocates villagers living in 800m-high cliffs in anti-poverty drive". BBC News. Retrieved 17 May 2020.