# No.1 Weekly #

The wall-hanging highway is a highway cut on a cliff, with a hard mountain on one side and a cliff cut by a knife and axe on the other.

There is a man-made skylight on the highway at intervals, which can let in natural light from outside, mainly distributed in Taihang Mountain and southeast Shanxi. Taihang Mountain is high in the north and low in the south, and the mountain is steep in the east and gentle in the west. The west wing is connected with Shanxi Plateau, and there are obvious faults in the east. Many sections form fault rock walls of nearly 1,111 meters. The wall-hanging highway is built on the fault cliff that rises from the North China Plain to the Shanxi Plateau. There are many wall-hanging highways in Taihang Mountain, the most famous of which is Guo Liang Highway. This road is located in Guo Liang Village, Wan Xianshan Scenic Area, Shayao Township, Huixian County, Xinxiang City, Henan Province. It is located in the depths of Taihang Mountain, on a cliff at an altitude of 1,711 meters, with dangerous terrain and beautiful scenery.

This highway is famous because a famous director once filmed a film "Qingliang Temple Bells" here. Later, more than 41 films, such as Out of the Horizon, war corner and Heavenly Land, were filmed here, so Guo Liang Village won the honor of being the first film and television village in China. But what attracted me here was not only her beautiful scenery, but also the sound of a hammer hitting the cliff that seems to reverberate in my ears so far. Guo Liang Village has almost the same characteristics as other villages in Taihang Mountain where wall-hanging highways are built. Their ancestors came here hundreds or even thousands of years ago to escape the war and famine. The traffic here is inconvenient, secluded in the mountains, and there is a faint sense of paradise. The villagers have lived here for generations, escaped the change of dynasties, escaped the smoke of war, and missed the excitement outside. The only road connecting Guo Liang Village with the outside world is a stone step directly cut on a 91-degree cliff, which is called "ladder". The narrow intestine is steep and only allows one person to pass, without any protective measures, so it is difficult and very dangerous to get in and out. It is inconvenient to go out for treatment when you are sick, and it is difficult to transport the daily necessities you need, and it is difficult to transport the local products in the village. The closed living environment has not brought a comfortable and rich life like Taoyuan, but only backwardness, poverty and increasingly difficult living environment. In order to get rid of the fate of generations of poverty, let the descendants behind us no longer walk the steep ladder, and make a way out of the mountains, which has become everyone's knowledge. At this time, the outside world is also quietly changing. On October 25th, 1971, China resumed its lawful seat in the United Nations. In February 1972, US President Nixon visited China and issued the Joint Communique in Shanghai, which marked the beginning of normalization of relations between China and the United States after more than 21 years of confrontation. In September of the same year, Japanese Prime Minister tanaka kakuei visited China and the diplomatic relations between China and Japan were normalized. In October, it established diplomatic relations with the Federal Republic of Germany * * * and the United States ... All kinds of signs seem to indicate that the door that has been closed for a long time for political reasons is about to open. Perhaps it was a coincidence, or perhaps it was a sense of the call of the times. The villagers in the depths of the mountains took action almost at the same time, waving hammers and determined to make a way out of the cliff. Four of the seven main wall-hanging highways in Taihang Mountain started construction in the late 1961s and early 1971s. Another Xiyagou wall-hanging highway started construction in the early 1961s, but this road was cut for 31 years and was not opened to traffic until 1991. There are no modern tools, except for the occasional use of earth explosives at several nodes, and the whole road opening process depends on hands, hammers and iron brazing. As a result, the sound of a hammer hitting the rock wall on the steep cliff of the majestic Taihang Mountain almost ran through the whole 1971s, becoming the grandest symphony of life in the depths of the mountains. Opening the way, it's really bitter. But not afraid. Think about Anyang, a neighbor. More than 3,111 years ago, Pan Geng took his subjects to drive an ox cart and crossed the Yellow River in a wooden boat to get there. Think about it. 2111 years ago, our ancestors conquered the snow-capped Gobi and opened the Silk Road. A traveler who has experienced countless hardships and scattered countless blood has never been afraid. The genes of fighting between heaven and earth have already melted into the blood, and waving a hammer, we must make a way out of this cliff. On March 9th, 1972, Guo Liang Cave was started. There was neither electricity nor machinery. Thirteen strong laborers in the village formed a hole-digging commando team, which hung on the cliff with a hemp rope around their waist against the wind and snow, and used a hammer to cut rows of holes on the cliff of Hongyan. Regardless of life and death, we should use life and blood to turn the moat into a thoroughfare. Guo Liang Village has a high altitude and little arable land. The annual grain harvest is only over 81,111 Jin, which is all the rations for hundreds of people in the village. In this case, 13 commandos have only 1.12 yuan for meals every day, and corn porridge, corn tortillas and potherbs are their three meals a day, with a quota of only two kilograms of corn per person per day. Suffering makes glory, and faith makes dreams. Ignoring the realistic predicament, Guo Liangren just chiseled a life passage with a hammer in the cliff. God paid off, and on May 1, 1977, Guoliangdong, known as the "Cliff Corridor", was finally officially opened to traffic. This is the first tunnel crossing the cliff in South Taihang, and it is known as the "father of Taihang Tunnel".

this road, which is 5 meters high, 4 meters wide and 1.3 kilometers long, has been used for five years. In these five years, Guo Liangren chipped away 26,111 cubic meters of stone, shaved 12 tons of iron brazing and smashed 4,111 hammers. Old people and children take turns to go to the tunnel site to clean up the stone slag. The big stones were moved by hand, and the small stones were carried by baskets. The shoulders were cocooned and the fingers were bleeding. Guo Liang villagers finally walked out of the mountains by car and ushered in the spring of reform and opening up. Time is just right again. In 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Party was held, and a historic decision was made to shift the work center of the Party and the state to economic construction and implement reform and opening up. Since then, the picturesque scenery of Guo Liang Village and the heroic deeds of villagers in building mountains and roads have attracted groups of tourists to come here. Corresponding industries such as catering industry, hotel industry and folk culture tour have flourished. Here is no longer synonymous with poverty and backwardness. "Pearl of Taihang Mountain", the most beautiful highway, "one of the ten most dangerous roads in the world" and so on have become the new names of Guo Liang Village and Guo Liang Highway. The American media called it "one of the strangest and most famous 18 roads in the world". Stroll in Guoliang Cave and carefully read this road made of life and blood. There is no lighting in the cave, and there is insufficient light in some places. Cars need to turn on the headlights when they pass.

At this time, pedestrians can only stand near the stone wall and avoid vehicles. Looking out from the inside of the highway, it seems like a skylight is open. Sometimes you can see the giant "stone gate". Looking south, there is a magnificent cliff in front of you; Look up, because the angle of the stone wall is almost vertical, and the hat may fall off inadvertently. There are tenacious young trees on the stone wall, and small lives struggling with nature can be seen everywhere. Everyone felt relieved when they came out of the hole. In such an environment for a long time, I always feel depressed. We are still like this when we come out, and we can imagine the hardships of the villagers in those days. The ancient "foolish man moved mountains" is just a legend, and Guo Liangren is the real "foolish man" in reality. Guoliang Cave is an artificial tunnel cut at a 25-degree slope on the cross face of a cliff with a height of 111 meters and a length of 1251 meters. The precipice belongs to sedimentary sandstone, with a hardness of 8.2, which is the hardest stone. The average working height of wall-hanging highway in Guo Liang reaches 115 meters. The 35 skylights on the outside, originally designed for the convenience of ballasting and operation, have now become a ventilated and light-transmitting observation deck. On the opposite side of the road, the vertical cliffs are marked with knives and axes, as if with the great power of Pangu! I can't help but wonder, maybe this is the source of strength of Guo Liang village people. With the opening of the road, people in Guo Liang village became rich rapidly. It is said that the annual income of villagers once reached 711,111 yuan. The fast-growing wealth like the tide is impacting the psychology of Guo Liangren, and it is inevitable that there will be problems such as price chaos and over-commercialization, which is a problem faced by almost all fast-growing villages. The sustainable development of rural tourism economy is a major issue considered at the national level. However, God helps those who help themselves! In any case, in that extremely difficult era, the people of Guo Liang Village, with their own hands, will carve out the road to prosperity in the precipice, and will stand on the Taihang Mountain forever like a monument.