The Great Walkway of China
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Basic Information

In Shaanxi province in China there exists a narrow walkway through the mountains, roughly a foot wide, built by hermits looking for immortals deep in the mountains. Somewhat vertiginous the path is composed of rickety wooden scaffolds and narrow ledges, often perched above sheer dropping cliffs. This is The Great Walkway of China … better known as the Chang Kong Cliff Road.

It's currently a tourist attraction and is fitted with safety ropes to avoid too many paying customers taking a holy dive. It's almost certain that the original builders and users didn't bother.

The Spainish Caminito del Rey (King's Walkway) is a similar, if somewhat less epic structure and similar things exist in similar places - the Inca of Peru were prone to building them in the High Andes. Such things may serve as an alternative to a naturally occurring pass.

Sources

Photos at the Telegraph online.
Chinese Tourist Information

Bibliography
1. full source reference

Game and Story Use

  • Suitable for recycling in fantasy campaigns and even into the modern era (very pulp, especially if someone is shooting at the PCs from a bi-plane as they go).
  • Get maximum value for the points your PCs earned from their acrophobia and low dexterity flaws.
  • Those immortals the hermits were looking for … were whom exactly?
    • The prosaic answer would be that the Taoist god of the underworld was said to dwell in Mount Hua, which is accessed by this trail, and the hermits were seeking entrance to his court, or at least to contact his servants as a form or worship or pilgrimage.
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