(Left): Children preparing to cross the river for school get excited in front of the camera. Niu Yixin (Right): The newly built cable footbridge is convenient for local residents.

As Yu Fangfang, 8, reaches the riverbank in Maji township in northwestern Yunnan province, she hoists a pulley onto a 200 m-long steel rope hanging over the thundering Nujiang River.

She then ties a homemade rope around her and fastens its two ends to the pulley.

Taking a deep breath, Yu kicks her legs against the rock and takes off. In 10 seconds, she is on the opposite side.

It's an everyday routine for students to go to school by sliding across a steel rope.

This is no game but the method used, until recently, by 400 children like Yu to get to school in Maji of Fugong county, which falls under Yunnan's Nujiang Lisu autonomous prefecture and is located in the Nujiang Grand Canyon.

Now, Yu and her fellow students in Bula Village Primary School no longer need to risk their lives with the first "Aixin (compassion) Bridge" built near the school.

The cable footbridge, 170m long and 1.7m wide, weighs two tons and is expected to last 40-50 years.

At first a little scared of the slightly shaky bridge, Yu could not resist giving it a try after hearing the happy shouts of her classmates.

Last September, 25 Chinese media companies such as Southern Weekend, Jiangsu TV, Yunnan TV and Yunnan Daily initiated a nationwide fundraising drive to build the aixin bridges over Nujiang River.

Donations totaling about 1.5 million yuan ($210,000) poured in, of which 400,000 yuan has been used for the first bridge. The rest of the money will be used to build more footbridges across the river.

"We do have three bridges, but they are too far away from the schools," says Pu Youheng, head of Bula Village Primary School.

"Built in 1960s and 70s, they are not as safe as the ropes."

But the ropes are not safe, either.

Almost every year, people fall and drown in the river, says Feng Jisheng, from the Fugong Transportation Bureau.

(Left): A girl on her way to school. Niu Yixin (Right): Students in Bula Village Primary School take turns to slide across the Nujiang River.

Almost half the 95,000-strong population of Fugong, rely on the 21 sets of steel ropes across the Nujiang River. However, built to last just six years, 17 of them need to be replaced.

It is impossible for the locals in this remote and underdeveloped county to build a suspension bridge on their own. The average yearly income of the locals is only 700 yuan and the county's yearly revenue is only 10 million yuan. However, it costs about 400,000 yuan to build a suspension bridge.

Students walk to school on the new bridge.

(China Daily, March 21, 2008)