（文本为视频大致内容，可能与视频并非完全一致，欢迎大家贡献听写稿^^）

The bridge over the roaring Nujiang River is the most dangerous along the Sichuan-Tibet highway. But the road is a vital link for the Tibetan people.

Waters roar 150 meters below while cliffs - soaring 1,000 meters high - cut off light for all but a few hours every day. Then there are the erratic temperatures - with swings of up to 40 degrees over a single day. Oxygen is scarce too - only half of that at sea level.

On top of this, the road itself presents challenges - it makes 99 harrowing switchbacks along a 38 kilometer stretch as it swings down the mountainsides - starting at the 4,658 meter Yela Mountain, before descending nearly 1,200 meters to the bridge.

If that’s not enough, drivers must contend with regular landslides coming down from the cliffs, and the army stands on guard at the pass 24 hours a day.

So why do so many drivers risk life and limb to travel the road? The link in fact shoulders a huge responsibility - shipping food, electronics, and daily necessities to the Tibetan people - while helping Tibetans sell their wares. The link brings things like medicines, jewelery, kitchenware and clothing to outside markets. Without this road, Tibet would be without a crucial bridge to the rest of the country.

When the people's liberation army first arrived in Tibet in 1951 they had to use a crude system of ropes to cross the dangerous river. The first proper bridge was built in 1953 - a steel link crossing the stretch. This first bridge was built without the aide of any machinery - using only the power of the builder's bodies to construct the span. In 1972 a modern cement bridge was constructed to replace the old structure, and that bridge stands today.

声明：音视频均来自互联网链接，仅供学习使用。本网站自身不存储、控制、修改被链接的内容。"沪江英语"高度重视知识产权保护。当如发现本网站发布的信息包含有侵犯其著作权的链接内容时，请联系我们，我们将依法采取措施移除相关内容或屏蔽相关链接。