Hairpin bends, all 99 of them, make driving along Tongtian Avenue something of a hair-raising adventure, even for the most experienced motorist. The wildly curvy route is also called the Avenue Leading to the Sky, and for nearly seven miles it snakes towards the top of Tianmen Mountain in China’s Hunan Province. There’s an alternative way up, but it’s not much better for the faint of heart: What’s considered the world’s longest high-mountain cable car system ascends over 3,900ft. The entire Tianmen Mountain experience seems to be made for those with nerves of steel – glass walkways hug high cliffs, and a 999-step stairway leads to an enormous natural arch near the mountain’s summit.

A cablecar was constructed in 2005 by the French company Poma from nearby Zhangjiajie railway station to the top of the mountain. Tianmen Mountain Cableway is claimed in tourist publications as the “longest passenger cableway of high mountains in the world”, with 98 cars and a total length of 7,455 m (24,459 ft) and ascent of 1,279 m (4,196 ft). The highest gradient is 37 degrees. Tourists can walk on kilometres of paths built along the cliff face at the top of the mountain, including sections with glass floors. An 11 km (7 mi) road with 99 bends also reaches the top of the mountain and takes visitors to Tianmen cave, a natural arch in the mountain of a height of 131.5 m (431.4 ft).

The Tianmenshan Temple is located on the summit, with chairlift or footpath access. The original temple here was built during the Tang dynasty and destroyed during the first part of the 20th century. In 1949, as the Chinese Communist Revolution neared its end, construction of a new temple, with Tang dynasty architecture, commenced; the temple now sits on landscaped grounds covering 2 hectares (4.9 acres).

In 2007, Alain Robert scaled the cliff below the arch, bare-handed and without protection; a plaque commemorates his feat. The World Wingsuit League held the first and second World Wingsuit Championships in Tianmen. On October 8, 2013, during a training jump for the second world championships, Viktor Kováts plunged to his death when he was unable to open his parachute.

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