World’s Most Dangerous Roads | China - The Sichuan-Tibet Highway | Free Documentary

[Music] the sichuan tibet highway is the most important traffic route from china to the himalayas 2200 kilometers across steep passes and deep valleys up to the roof of the world [Music] the journey leads through remote villages and fascinating landscapes but unforeseen dangers lure at every corner at five thousand meters altitude the infinity of the sky seems as close as never before at the end of the road of longing for truck drivers travelers and pilgrims [Music] [Music] do [Music] the sichuan tibet highway leads from chengdu in the sichuan province situated in the southeast of china [Music] it crosses the himalayas to tibet's capital city lazar ren tai ping and his colleague shun are checking the wheels and brakes of their truck they have to bring cement to a place near the tibetan border about 800 kilometers away they calculated three days for their trip they take turns driving at frequent intervals because the ascent up the himalayas takes full concentration [Music] is very difficult to drive because of the many roadworks landslides cause road accidents time and time again the road conditions are a disaster especially in heavy rain [Music] through steep valleys the road ascends higher and higher because there was a lot of rain whole mountain slopes start moving the road needs repairing all the time again and again vehicles crash and fall into the deep [Music] canyons [Music] if we encounter them on the road it's better to let them pass that's what hers only yesterday further down the road the stubborn behavior of two drivers caused deaths [Music] the ascent to the first pass is especially dangerous since it's hardly paved at all ren taiping prefers to let his more experienced colleague do the driving [Music] the road winds itself ever higher through a subtropical mountain jungle the clouds floating from the pacific ocean to the himalayas cause heavy rains here [Music] traffic is bad here because of only single lane traffic on account of the roadworks look the whole street leading up here is only one single traffic jam you have to be very careful [Music] shortly before the pass once again a landslide blocks the road everyone has to be prepared for many hours of waiting time the first stage of the sichuan tibet highway leads from sichuan's capital city chengdu across the foothills of the himalayas to kangding [Music] the first ascent to the elon mountain is one of the most dangerous stages of the whole route [Music] a farmer woman is logging bamboo in the underbrush above the street gao kai-si does not even let heavy rain keep her from working what do we use the bamboo for we use it to build a protective cover our old temple is being demolished now our buddha needs a new provisional room [Music] and some of the farmers from the close by village want to finish building the makeshift temple on the slope above the highly frequented road it's supposed to safeguard not only the villagers but also passing travelers against [Music] accidents people here are used to working in the rain the sun hardly ever shines in this foggy region [Applause] general bai and this is my mom with his white horse [Music] all right [Music] to ask for protection from up above is very common in this area maybe because there are dangers everywhere just a few years ago tens of thousands of people died at a disastrous earthquake which devastated this area in sichuan soon we we'll only have time to build the permanent temple after everything has been harvested the temple is inaugurated with small fireworks beware of falling rocks it says a few kilometers further on the rain has destabilized the slope the climbers are trying to loosen branches and debris to prevent the worst [Applause] sometimes the road patrol manages to alleviate dangerous sights but most of the time they arrive too late [Music] is one of the thousands of cyclists who try to surmount the passes of the sichuan tibet highway between spring and fall i can cycle fast or slow whichever i want [Music] i meet people on the way and make friends cyclists are like-minded everyone is on vacation i'm so happy we're cycling to lazar it'll take us three to four weeks to get there in between we'll rest for two or three days [Music] through rain and fog even in snow and ice the cyclists struggle for days across four to five thousand meter high passes to reach their destination laza because of the enormous differences in altitude the endlessly long passages and the many dangers the sichuan tibet highway is a sort of baptism of fire for many members of the new chinese middle class [Music] ren taiping and his colleague have left the traffic jam behind finally they can move on if the car breaks down and blocks the road the traffic jam lasts for at least half a day dangerous situations occur very often one has to be very careful but most drivers are aware of the dangers not only landslides falling rocks or unpaved roads are challenging the greatest danger arises from drivers who risk too much [Applause] a poultry truck has fallen over hundreds of chickens have died approached me the driver's wife is trying to save what can be saved it has taken the family a whole year to rear the chickens now the family's existence is at stake the route leads ever higher up in the himalayas behind the first 4000 meter pass ren taiping and his colleagues suffer damage too the driver's door is damaged but they are not even halfway there my colleague mr sun stopped to replenish the water when a truck came towards us she was working but he didn't see us in time and crashed into the open door that's how it got broken right now ren taiping suspects this unnecessary accident will cost him at least half a day because normally it takes the police a few hours to arrive at the scene the other driver does not accept the blame so the police will have to file a report further down in the valley the cyclists stop off at a hostel before darkness sets in zul shing has also completed his daily leg the increasing bicycle tourism is a welcome line of business for the villagers a one-night stay costs five euros per person that's affordable even by chinese standards the cyclists arrive from all across china the highway on top of the world is on vogue but whoever cycles here must be prepared for all kinds of weather good luck sure overtaking cars splash dirt in my face that's a real problem if a truck approaches you you have to stop otherwise no one can pass i must be careful because the truck would hardly notice honey [Music] it's still raining the next morning the villagers don't seem to mind here at 2000 meters above sea level the people are used to this moist and damp weather [Music] things at the hostel are starting to stir too shortly before 10 a.m later than usual zul xing sets off on his trip again [Music] his colleague are back on the road as well they waited five hours for the police to arrive they flattened the driver's door and tied it to the truck as best as they could the sichuan tibet highway winds itself ever higher the next pass is 4 500 meters high the truckers stay on the inner lane as much as they can because of the broken door and the dust up here the air is noticeably thinner and it has become colder the temperatures now lie at barely above zero degrees [Music] it is so tough to drive and the next passage will be uncomfortable too we try to stay close to the mountain with our broken door which means that sometimes we're driving on the wrong side of the road this can be dangerous especially if big vehicles are approaching [Music] from the city of kung ding the road leads across various passes to li tang near the tibetan border [Music] close by the road at nearly 5 000 metres the tibetan monastery gaueshan [Music] about two thousand meters further down the climate becomes mild again this is the tibetan part of sichuan easily recognizable by the splendid tibetan houses [Music] the family song belongs to the kampa people they are building a new house for their son the old one stood too close to the road and was demolished is 24 years old the house is supposed to be ready when he gets married [Music] when they expanded the sichuan tibet highway a little while ago our house was affected as well even though we weren't happy with the compensation payment we're now building a new house a bit further away from the street now everybody working here is related to me we ourselves dug up the stones in the clay and brought it here from far away from the team and what you love it will take three months to build the house life for the kampa people has its own rhythm but the highway is a foreboding of changing times every day new faces appear who are these strangers that struggle to climb up here what do they want here the locals ask themselves it won't take long before the chinese bustle will change life up here too [Music] drinks up his energy drink before hitting the road again he's actually always in a hurry he's expected to pick up tourists from laza for a tour across the himalayas he aims to arrive within five days but laza is not only 1700 kilometers away he also has to overcome a total of 25 000 meters in altitude downhill and uphill [Music] zhang yong always drives as fast as the road allows sometimes even faster he is 25 years young quick to react and ambitious the tour is not only a job for him but also a challenge driving uphill it's sometimes really difficult to overtake the others for example if there's a traffic jam overtaking can get very dangerous that means i won't be able to meet my schedule there are days when i only manage to drive 200 kilometers because of all the time i'm losing [Music] zhang yong just barely missed getting involved in this crash or else we would have come off the road the driver realizes immediately the truck is only good enough for its spare parts maybe the engine and the gearbox still work but the whole right hand side is a pile of junk at least the load containing construction material isn't damaged he wants to be able to give a detailed account of the damage when he calls his boss after the first shock the driver reacts surprisingly relaxed and cool [Music] the danger is always greatest going downhill when the brakes [Music] [Music] to the left there were a couple of small cars approaching it would have definitely run into them if you hadn't driven into the mountains there would have been casualties you would have pushed the two little cars down the slope and then there would have been another traffic jam he made the right decision [Music] [Applause] [Music] ren tai ping and his colleague have now been on the road for three days they want to arrive at their destination litang tomorrow morning another problem arises i had a funny feeling right at the beginning of our trip i'll check the cooling system of the [Applause] brakes [Applause] [Applause] the is is shut the cooling is blocked that's not good the cooling shouldn't be blocked it's very dangerous if the cooling system for the brakes fails and you're going downhill and the brakes will fail and you have a real big problem you either drive against the buffer walls into the ditch or you go down the slope [Music] or you cause a bad accident something that frequently happens here [Music] at 4 000 meters altitude right next to the road a tibetan family of nomads are tending their flock of yaks zuma her husband and the two sons live off the milk the furs and the meat of the animals they own 70 yaks zoo's eldest son dawa is 13 years old it took him ages to accustom his favorite yak to be ridden now he is proud that the animal lets him sit on its back i tend to the x and call them if they stroll off too far after milking them i bring them to the pasture and bring them back in the afternoon dawa wants to become a cowboy own a horse and ride through the prairie soon the family will leave the summer pasture and move on to the village below [Music] our village has a school but i don't go there anymore i left two or three years ago yes i'm at school because the first snow has already fallen his dad has borrowed a truck to transport the tents and yaks down to the village tomorrow they will start moving but today the yaks are allowed to graze one last time i don't have much to say [Music] just tell them what you do every day i heard yaks every day has milked about 30 liters of milk today it's their most important income in order to produce yak butter she heats up the milk a little bit she sells the butter to a salesman who comes around every day five kilos each day they live off it without this machine we wouldn't have butter the whey comes in here and the butter over there the fact that their pastures lie directly at the road makes life simpler for the family it's easier to sell the butter and the transport of the tents and the herd the next day will take place much faster [Music] shortly before the next pass a car from shanghai has broken down on the mountain road [Music] has a problem with her clutch [Music] where's my i can't do this when people are watching me now you're messing up still needs practice starting the car at the foot of a hill it's her first time in the mountains she came to conquer the himalayas all on her own all the way from shanghai i just want to drive to tibet i've been wanting to go there for three years now but there were too many things that kept me from doing so now the time has come up i've done some research and have been preparing for this trip for the past three years i want to see tibet with my own eyes and it should be possible even with such a small car has already driven 2500 kilometers 500 in the mountains because her car is lightweight and has a lot of chassis clearance she masters even difficult passages sometimes impatient fellow drivers give shuking a harder time than the road conditions go back why do you keep going ahead you're blocking the road can't the truck get passed whenever the drivers encounter traffic jams at roadworks they get nervous [Music] ren tai ping and his colleague have almost reached their destination between them and litang remains only a last ascent they arrive a day too late because of the accident and the many traffic jams still they are in a good mood because up here the road is free of potholes there used to be lots of thieves here i never used to dare driving here at night in the old days it was impossible to make rapid progress you used to have to drive much more carefully than today ren taiping particularly enjoys this part of the journey especially if the sun is shining the lofty beauty of the landscape at 4 500 meters altitude gives him a feeling of freedom [Music] [Music] they arrive at litung in the afternoon it's one of the highest cities of the world situated at 000 meters altitude on a high plateau one of the most famous tibetan buddhist monasteries is in liton rentai ping and his colleague have now delivered the cement not only construction material but also most of the food for the inhabitants of the tongue comes from the lowlands [Music] they have mastered this adventurous trip once again they won't rest for long at this restaurant already in the afternoon they'll be heading back home [Music] [Music] the monastery of litang was built in the 16th century the 3rd and 10th dalai were educated here even today the monastery is one of the most important schools of tibetan buddhism more than a thousand monks live behind these ancient walls [Music] the 10 meter high statue of buddha on the inside is famous as well splendid ornaments bear witness to the ingenuity of tibetan [Music] artisanship zhang yong has been on the road for three days now he is happy about the improvement of the road conditions up here in the mountains [Music] the sichuan tibet highway runs from litang at the tibetan border across eastern tibet all the way to [Music] lazar at the tibetan border zhang yong crosses the legendary yangtze river which enters the pacific ocean near shanghai a bit further west the road follows the valley of the river mekong which sometimes carves two kilometers deep into the mountains finally it reaches the 72 turns which lead down to the river saloon it's not easy driving down these serpentines the bends are extremely narrow if you drive too fast the car might roll over you always have to keep an eye on the approaching traffic in the curves if a big truck shows up you have to wait in front of the curve that's the only way to pass this is a good car but you shouldn't drive it too fast an suv is big and high but that means it can easily overturn [Music] in spite of its high center of gravity zhang yong pushes the vehicle to its limits [Music] next to the road three young tibetans are sorting pieces of aluminum they are a kind of vanguard of civilization hukai is in charge of the brigade [Music] he has invested all his money in five mules in order to be able to offer his services to the electricity board he wants to help put up power poles until he has made enough money to fulfill his dream of buying his own car one day he wants to be a taxi driver at the moment we don't have any power supply depending on the whereabouts it'll take up different amounts of time in this sector it'll take another month pukai is only responsible for this area next to the road higher up there is another brigade putting up the power poles to also supply this tibetan region with electricity the stronger mules can carry 400 to 450 kilos this one here only 250. [Applause] [Music] we have a big problem highly focused zhang young heads west he enjoys being able to drive as fast as he wants to in this remote area these bikers are also heading towards laza they are from the guangong province and have been on the road for 26 days already and driven 4 000 kilometers has come up with the plan i'm 66 years old he's 62 and this gentleman here is 61. we're all retired i already planned to drive to tibet on a motorcycle for eight years but it never happened i did go to laza with a group of tourists but to find people to go there on a motorbike tour isn't easy at all now finally my dream comes true holds a mysterious attraction for many people some are searching for freedom and adventure on their trip across the mountains while others have religious and spiritual reasons to explore the heart of tibet [Applause] [Music] for these tibetan travelers the sichuan tibet highway is a pilgrim trail we carry [Laughter] they eat pure barley flour without additives they're only sustenance for many weeks see you later the pilgrim trail leads them on uphill and downhill through ice and snow only those prepared to suffer hardships will endure [Music] [Music] for the professional driver zhang yong the sichuan tibet highway is just part of his job he doesn't care much for the discovery of slowness the earlier he arrives the more content he is but shortly before reaching laza he encounters a traffic jam for the first time in days there are various hazards on the trip landslides deep snow on the high mountains slippery and icy streets it may be difficult for someone who never drove here before for me [Music] the pilgrims also arrive after their long journey at the potama palace the dalai lama's residence for centuries they believe that by spinning the prayer mills they can remove the harm of all living creatures and dissolve bad karma now at the end of the sichuan tibet highway everyone has fulfilled their goal [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Free Documentary

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Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, most dangerous roads, most dangerous journeys, worlds most dangerous roads, worlds most dangerous journeys, deadliest roads, deadliest roads in the world, dicing with death, deadliest journeys, dicing with death china, most dangerous roads china, deadliest roads china, dangerous china, deadliest journeys china, hot roads, hot roads china, Road to Death, china, china Highway, himalaya, Sichuan-Tibet Highway

Id: NI3yEN2U0sU

Length: 43min 23sec (2603 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 27 2021