Atulie'er
Atulie'er
Village in Sichuan, People's Republic of China
The Atulie'er village (Chinese: 阿土列尔村; pinyin: Ātǔliè ěr cūn), also transliterated as Atuleer, and Ado Ler, is located in the Zhi'ermo Township of Zhaojue County. The Atulie'er village is home to 72 families.[1]
The village was the focus of a Chinese news video and photojournalism that became international news in May, 2016.[2] Due to the 200 year-old village's isolated location, perched like the seat of a chair with near-vertical cliffs both above and below, village children must use a series of handmade vine ladders to scale the 2,625 feet (800 m) cliff to reach a school in the river valley below.[1] Parents supervise their children during the crossing due to the potential hazards.[citation needed] Students travel between their school and their residences every two weeks, and for the school period reside in dormitories on campus due to the ladder situation.[3]
In 2015 Chen Jie of The Beijing News photographed the children on the ladder. The pictures went viral on the internet, prompting local authorities to announce that they will construct a staircase to serve the students.[4] In 2020, the Chinese government began relocating the majority of Atulie'er's residents to the county seat of Zhaojue and converting the remaining village to a tourist site.[5]