TARGET 071114

Please drive safely!!!

Opening pic

The road shown here is the Guoliang Tunnel in Taihang mountains (China). It has been built by villagers themselves, which is an inspiring story in itself:

"Before 1972, a path chiseled into the rock used to be the only access linking the village with the outside world. Then the villagers decided to dig a tunnel through the rocky cliff. Led by Shen Mingxin, head of the village, 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-metre-long tunnel which is about 5 meters high and 4 meters wide. Some of the villagers even gave their lives to it. On May 1, 1977, the tunnel was opened to traffic."

The wall of the tunnel is uneven and there are more than 30 "windows" of different sizes and shapes. Some windows are round and some are square, and they range from dozens of metres long to standard-window-size. It is frightening to look down from the windows, where strange rocks form the sheer cliff above a seemingly bottomless pit lying below. A village, opposite the tunnel, appears to hang on the precipice.
Pictures of the roadway and tunnel seen from the village are shown below, for your feedback.

As you approach the tunnel from above
Before you enter

Entering the tunnel as you descend
Entering

The tunnel as you ascend
As you ascend

Looking out of the windows
Looking out the window

The tunnel seen from the village
Seen from the village

The Taihang Mountains are a Chinese mountain range running down the eastern edge of the Loess Plateau in Henan, Shanxi and Hebei provinces in China. The range extends over 400 km from north to south and has an average elevation of 1,500 to 2,000 meters. The principal peak is Xiao Wutaishan (2,882 metres). Cangyan Shan in Hebei forms the eastern tip of the Taihang range.

The name of Shanxi Province, meaning "west of the mountains", derives from its location west of the Taihang Mountains, as does the name of Shandong Province (east of the mountains).

For more information on the Guoliang Tunnel visit the Dark Roasted Blend Website
and for more information, links and pictures of the Taihang mountains, visit Wikipedia

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