During the Qingming Festival in China, a large number of tourists visiting the Yulong Snow Mountain Scenic Area in Lijiang, Yunnan, were trapped at the mountaintop for several hours, with some exhibiting symptoms of vomiting and hypothermia.
On April 4th, several tourists posted online that they were stranded at the mountaintop of the Yulong Snow Mountain Scenic Area in Lijiang, Yunnan for hours, and some of them experienced discomfort. Many tourists at the scene criticized the scenic area for “disregarding life,” pointing out that despite the strong winds and the cableway being blocked, the scenic area continued to allow people to go up the mountain at 5 p.m., directly leading to a chaotic situation at the mountaintop.
According to reports from mainland media such as the “Xiaoxiang Morning News,” around 5 p.m. on April 4th, the weather at the Yulong Snow Mountain Scenic Area suddenly changed, with wind gusts reaching level 9.5. The speed of the cableway was reduced from 6 meters per second to 2 meters per second. The sudden decrease in speed led to a severe shortage of downhill transportation capacity, causing a large number of originally planned descending tourists to be “stuck” on the mountaintop platform.
On April 5th, a tourist named Xiao Li revealed that when they arrived at the cableway with a group of 4 people at 4 p.m., they waited for 1.5 hours to board. The staff informed them that due to the strong winds on the mountain, the cable car was moving slowly.
Xiao Li mentioned that initially, they were not allowed into the waiting hall and many tourists were forced to wait outside in the wind. Some people started demanding refunds, and she and some other tourists sought shelter in the restroom to avoid the wind. It was chaotic during the queuing process, with people experiencing symptoms of vomiting, some wrapping themselves in trash bags for warmth due to insufficient clothing, and even a pregnant woman having difficulty breathing.
The progress of the queue only moved one to two meters every ten minutes because of the large number of people present. By a little after 8 p.m., Xiao Li was able to enter the waiting hall. Due to the long time spent at the mountaintop at an altitude of 4600 meters, Xiao Li began to feel hypoxic and unwell, so she found a place to sit and rest.
After a while, the staff provided oxygen bottles, snacks, and candies, and some enthusiastic tourists voluntarily organized to deliver oxygen bottles, food, and water to allow unwell tourists to descend first. It wasn’t until 10:30 p.m. that Xiao Li finally boarded the cable car. They only returned to their hotel in Lijiang the next early morning.
According to the “Modern Express” report, a woman named Lu from Shanghai mentioned that she was in menstruation at the time of the incident. After queuing outdoors for nearly 2 hours, she was freezing all over, with purple spots appearing on her arms, accompanied by hypothermia and vomiting. She had requested to rest indoors on a chair but was initially denied by the staff citing the need to queue, only after several negotiations was she allowed to sit down.
Lu stated that she continued queuing after resting for half an hour, and it wasn’t until past 10 p.m. that she finally got on the cableway to descend. Later on the cable, she vomited, expressing that the scenic area lacked emergency measures, such as warm water or blankets; many tourists were freezing, and it was only later that oxygen bottles and lollipops were provided.
Another tourist from Guangdong described the frigid conditions at the mountaintop with a perceived temperature as low as minus 10 degrees Celsius. Due to inadequately warm clothing, some resorted to wrapping themselves in trash bags for warmth. They endured 3 hours of cold winds outside and their personally carried oxygen was running out. Initially, the scenic area did not provide oxygen bottles until many tourists couldn’t bear it any longer.
A female tourist mentioned that initially, the staff did not allow entry into the waiting hall, forcing many tourists to seek shelter in the restrooms to avoid the wind. Posts by some tourists on the internet showed that many children were crying loudly due to the cold and lack of oxygen.
Accusations surfaced in online posts from trapped tourists, claiming that initially oxygen bottles were to be “charged extra,” and it wasn’t until tourists collectively protested that the scenic area began distributing free oxygen, candies, and hot ginger tea. Criticism was directed at the lack of indoor space at the scenic area; it wasn’t opened until tourists were angered and demanded it, not even a cup of hot water was provided initially.
The staff at the scenic area mentioned that on the afternoon of the 4th, strong winds occurred on the mountain, initially, the wind was not too strong, and there were no major issues as the cable car slowly ascended. However, as the wind intensified, it affected the safe operation of the cableway, leading to tourists being stranded at the mountaintop.
The staff said that in response to the situation that day, they provided tourists with refunds for the cableway, and they were in the process of tallying the number of tourists and communicating individually for refunds.
Xiao Li mentioned that she received a refund of 140 yuan.