The newly opened Fuyao cliffside elevator (left), which began operation on Friday, stands alongside Qingyun, a 268-meter elevator that has served the Nizhuhe Grand Canyon in Yunnan province since 2022. Rising 288 meters, Fuyao joins the Qingyun elevator in cutting the daily commute for schoolchildren from over three hours on a perilous mountain path to just 30 minutes. XINHUA

How do you top a cliffside elevator that has already shortened a daily journey of more than three hours to just about 30 minutes? You build a new one that's taller, faster and comes with a more breathtaking view.

In the remote Nizhuhe Grand Canyon in Southwest China's Yunnan province, a glass elevator attached to a vertical cliff face was unveiled for operation last week, making the regular commute to Guanzhai Village Primary School much safer for some 20 children from neighboring villages.

The newly completed project, named Fuyao, together with the old elevator Qingyun built around four years ago, ensures that local residents, including schoolchildren, no longer have to navigate a perilous mountain path on foot.

As a bonus, the cliffside elevators are attracting more tourists, which in turn is boosting job opportunities and the incomes of the mountain communities.

Lei Xin, 12, who lives in Nizhuhe village and attended the neighboring Guanzhai Village Primary School until September last year, was full of praise for the new elevator. "The Fuyao is faster and much more spacious than the Qingyun," Lei said, after taking his first ride on Sunday, two days after the new elevator began operating.

Cai Xiong, chairman of Xuanwei Yatuo Tourism Development, the construction company behind the project, said that the new elevator covers a 288-meter vertical cliff face, making its shaft 20 meters taller than that of the old elevator.

The two cliffside elevators — Fuyao (right) and Qingyun — rise side by side in the Nizhuhe Grand Canyon. XINHUA

"The Fuyao goes from the bottom to the top in just 50 seconds, which is nearly twice as fast as the Qingyun, and it can carry up to 81 passengers at a time, nearly double the capacity," Cai said, adding that the view of the canyon with meandering streams is unbeatable.

The names of the elevators are inspired by Chinese literary classics. While Qingyun evokes the idea of "soaring skyward", Fuyao translates as "pursuing higher aspirations".

Along with an aerial cable car, the two cliffside elevators connect Nizhuhe village, located at the bottom of the canyon, with the primary school situated on the plateau. After walking one kilometer from home, children can take one of the elevators up the cliff for free, before transferring to the cable car for the rest of the journey. They reach school within half an hour. Before the elevators were built, the only way to reach the top was a steep zigzagging path, with footholds carved into rocks and chains serving as guardrails.

Growing up near the canyon, Cai, the company chairman, recalled walking the dangerous mountain path countless times. He said that safety was a key motivation for the project.

Since the Qingyun was built, the canyon scenic area has welcomed more than 1 million visitors. The Fuyao is adding to the tourism boom, with the elevators' combined capacity to handle 1,200 passengers every hour, raising the area's daily peak visitor volume from 4,000 to 15,000.

"If the current trend continues, we expect more than 600,000 tourists next year, with elevator revenue projected to exceed 3 million yuan ($444,300)," Cai said.

Booming tourism has created new job opportunities for locals. Disposable incomes in Nizhuhe village last year increased nearly fourfold compared with 2022.

Li Yingqing in Kunming contributed to this story.