Cleaner picks litter on a cliff with little protection

Cleaner picks litter on a cliff with little protection


Sanitation workers in a renowned Chinese mountain attraction have returned to what could be the world's most dangerous cleaning job after a lengthy coronavirus shutdown.


With a hardhat, a harness and a rope, these so-called 'spider-man cleaners' need to collect garbage left by visitors on dangerous cliff faces in Zhangjiajie, south-western China.


Dizzying drone footage shows one such daredevil litter picker undertaking the highly risky task as he clung onto trees on a rock face at nearly 4,600 feet above the ground.


The video was taken on the Tianmen or Heaven's Gate Mountain in Zhangjiajie when it welcomed tourists on May 1, the first national holiday in China since officials lifted quarantine restrictions.


A separate clip shows the cleaner, named Yang Feiyue, abseiling down the cliff with the help of a rope and a metal hook as he headed towards the area he was assigned to clean.


Yang's daily job is to gather rubbish on a section of the cliff about 100 metres (330 feet) under a glass-bottomed walkway.


Yang and his colleagues have earned the nickname 'spider-man cleaners' for their remarkable ability of moving up and down high vertical surfaces at ease just like the fictional superhero.


The 'Coiling Dragon Cliff' skywalk snakes along the mountainside for 100 metres (330 feet) and is just 1.6 metres (5 feet) wide.


Opened on August 1, 2016, the cliff-side footpath gives tourists a clear view of the plunging valley on the other side of the barrier.


During this year's Labour Day national holiday, which lasted from May 1 to May 5, a total of 53,819 people visited the Tianmen Mountain, according to official figures. 


The number, however, is a far cry from the same period last year, which saw 49,000 visitors swarming to the scenic spot every day.


The Hunan government ordered all attractions in Zhangjiajie to limit the number of visitors to a maximum of 30 per cent its capacity.


Tourists had to book a specific timeslot to enter the park to allow social distancing. They also had to have their temperatures taken and use a government-approved app to show they don't have the coronavirus before their entrance.