Two villagers cross a gorge on a liusuo, a cable-car-style mechanism between two cliffs, in Shuicheng county, Guizhou province in April.[?Photo / China Daily ]

Hui Defang could be forgiven for feeling a tinge of sadness when he heard news of a bridge being built across Wumeng Canyon.

For the past decade, his family's main source of income has come from the liusuo - a cable-car-style mechanism between two cliffs - that runs across the vast gorge.

However, despite the loss of his business, Hui was among those cheering when construction started on June 7.

"I couldn't wait to remove the liusuo," he said, adding that he knows the bridge is a far safer alternative and will help improve living and working conditions for villagers.

The liusuo, the last one in Guizhou province, has been the only link between Hongde village's 2,000 residents and the outside world since it was built in 2002.

Wumeng Canyon, 15 kilometers long and 140 meters deep, separates the village from the nearest town, Yingpan.

"Crossing the gorge was treacherous. Villagers had to climb down a trail to the bottom and then back up again," Hui said, adding that years ago it claimed the lives of two young girls who were washed away during a flood.

"The turning point came in 2001 when a rail link was completed between Shuicheng county (where Hongde is located) and nearby Panxian county," he said.

Across the canyon is Maocaoping Station, from where it takes only 15 minutes to get to Yingpan.

The first liusuo was set up by three villagers with about 10,000 yuan ($1,600).

Comprising a thick steel cable that is fixed to rocks on both sides of the canyon and a steel cage, which hangs on the cable with a wheel, a liusuo is operated manually on a pulley system.

In 2002, Hui and his brothers built a second one about 500 meters away.

However, safety has always been a problem, and several passengers fell and died over the years. Authorities suspended operations of the two liusuo several times, according to a town official, but they were resumed quickly due to a lack of alternatives.

Hui at first charged half yuan per person, with the fee rising to 2 yuan this year.

Biggest wish for villagers

For generations, the greatest wish of the impoverished residents of Hongde was to have a bridge across the canyon.

The village, in a secluded mountainous area on the side of Beipan River, has a favorable climate, making it an ideal place for growing fruit and vegetables.

"However, a large part of our harvest ended up rotting in the field because we didn't have a safe paved road," said Zhou Chenggu, the village Party chief.

Chen Jichang, 45, said that with the 30 chickens he keeps and the 3.5 tons of sugarcane he harvests every year, and some odd jobs, he can make about 10,000 yuan a year. "I can make 3,000 yuan selling sugarcane, but transport costs a lot. If there was a bridge, I could have made double," he said.

Many villagers who talked to China Daily reporters said the same thing.

Authorities say lack of capital and concerns over environmental preservation are the two major obstacles that have held up the building of a bridge.

"We thought of building one more than 10 years ago," said Li Yong, publicity director for Shuicheng county, "but as a poor area, we had no means to collect the millions of yuan needed to build the bridge, so we could only report to the higher authority for assistance."

The per capita income of rural residents in the county was 3,273 yuan in 2010, according to the county government. "However, we later realized the key didn't lie in money," Li added.

Wumeng Canyon is one of the best-preserved canyons in the world, dominated by ecologically fragile karst landscape. The construction work would inevitably damage the fragile environment, Li said.

"Besides, the location of the liusuo is at the core of the national geology park in Wumeng Mountain, which is a top scenic spot," said Yang Mingwen, Shuicheng deputy director of publicity.

Despite environmental concerns, people's livelihoods are also a problem of urgent importance. After rounds of site inspection, the local transportation authority decided to follow the request of the villagers and chose a site about 1 km from Hui Defang's liusuo.

"That makes it possible to build a bridge with a shorter span, causing minimal damage to the environment," said Yang.

According to Zhou Yingchang, chief engineer of the county's transport department, construction of the 50-meter-long bridge with car lanes and sidewalks will be in full swing by next month, he said.

"The county government has invested 128,000 yuan and organized villagers to build a temporary steel-plate bridge, which will be replaced when the bridge is completed," said Luo Mingyuan, deputy head of Yingpan town.

As the dream of the village finally comes true, Hui's liusuo will be removed from the canyon and protected as a cultural relic.

"The liusuo will be preserved as a witness to the past and development of Hongde village," added publicity official Li.