The Bali heat proved too much for Zhang Min, a 30-year-old tourist from Chengdu, one afternoon last month. She had made it to a cliff above one of the Indonesian holiday destination’s most sought-after scenic spots, but was exhausted by the journey.
“The roads are really poor,” Zhang said as her group stopped above the T. Rex-shaped headland – a unique land mass that has made Kelingking one of the world’s most photographed beaches.
Her group opted against hiking down a steep, sun-exposed trail to the beach’s crescent of white sand, which abuts vertical limestone cliffs.
“I’m tired and not going down there myself.”
One year from now, that may no longer be a problem. A Chinese firm is installing a 182-metre (597 feet) glass lift down the cliffside, a highly visible sign of the country’s investment in Indonesia. Despite some public disquiet, officials there have long relied on China for infrastructure development.
Construction cranes operate daily, lowering workers on suspended platforms over the shaft, where pieces of the lift are being attached to the cliff from the beach upwards.
