The Lagaluo village in Weixi County, Diqing Prefecture, is located on the mid-stream of the Lancang River. Decades ago, the turbulent made it hard for villagers to communicate with the outside world.

In early 1980s, two zip lines connected Lagaluo Village to Zhonglu Town, increasing exchanges among the riverside natives.

The log to which a zip line was tied

A zip-line site

On October 15, 1982, a newly-built bridge opened to traffic to replace the perilous zip lines.   At the opening ceremony, however, the bridge suddenly collapsed, and 136 fell into the river and lost their lives. What a sad day for locals!

Remnant of the collapsed bridge

Monument to the victims

On November 20, 1983, the Cangzhong suspension bridge was built and put into use. The villagers bade farewell to the zip lines, finally.

The suspension allowed more communication and exchanges of goods between Lagaluo Village and the neighboring towns.

The Cangzhong suspension bridge

With social progress, an increasing number of vehicles entered or left the village, and the Cangzhong suspension bridge soon got over loaded.

In 2008, the Cangzhong new bridge was put into service. With a maximum load of 15 tons, the new bridge allowed small and medium-sized trucks to pass through, contributing a lot to development of the village. .

The Cangzhong new bridge is still in use.

Now, the 273-meter resettlement bridge is near completion after a three-year construction period. A total of 45.84 million yuan was invested in the bridge.

The resettlement bridge

Source: Diqing Daily; trans-editing by Wang Shixue