Banna Monkey Mountain Ropeway / 版纳猴山索道

I am currently spending a few days in Yunnan, Xishuangbanna for my Christmas vacation with Gui. It’s less polluted and less cold than in Beijing or Datong.

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Spotted by bicycle, I wondered what this place was… Dec 2015

I was riding a bicycle in Jinghong along the Mekong River when I spotted an abandoned place… It seems my eyes are trained for this anywhere now.

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Visitor Center, Monkey Montain Ropeway, Dec 2015

It was actually a touristic scenic area with a visitor center, I had to go check it out. It turned out to be really interesting: an abandoned ropeway crossing the Mekong river!

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Main entrance, Monkey Mountain Ropeway, Dec 2015

There was all the equipement still present at the scene, although overgrown by wild grass and spiderwebs… What I liked the most was the little nacelles with the « dai » writing on them.

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Nacelles, Monkey Mountain Ropeway, Dec 2015
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Waiting in line, Monkey Mountain Ropeway, Dec 2015
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Pulley, Monkey Mountain Ropeway, Dec 2015
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Stocks of nacelles, Monkey Mountain Ropeway, Dec 2015
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Metal, paint, and spiderweb, Monkey Mountain Ropeway, Dec 2015
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Pink and orange nacelles, Monkey Mountain Ropeway, Dec 2015
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From above, Monkey Mountain Ropeway, Dec 2015
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Lots of abandoned nacelles, Monkey Mountain Ropeway, Dec 2015
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Ready to have fun, Monkey Mountain Ropeway, Dec 2015
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Overgrown Cableway, Monkey Mountain Ropeway, Dec 2015
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Control room, Monkey Mountain Ropeway, Dec 2015
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Control the traffic, Monkey Montain Ropeway, Dec 2015
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Office, Monkey Mountain Ropeway, Dec 2015
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Fire safety sign, Monkey Mountain Ropeway, Dec 2015

Next to the ropeway’s back entrance, there was a beauty spot, how strange…

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Back entrance, Monkey Mountain Ropeway, Dec 2015
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Beauty spot, Monkey Mountain Ropeway, Dec 2015

I also found an overgrown restaurant. I did not go in because of the dangerous dog guarding the place…

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Broken facade, Monkey Mountain Ropeway, Dec 2015
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Broken oil lamps, Monkey Mountain Ropeway, Dec 2015

According to the only person living in the area, this ropeway was abandoned six years ago, when bigger resorts were planned in the same area. The person did not know if it was going to be demolished or not. I could not find that information online either.

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Side of the building, Monkey Mountain Ropeway, Dec 2015

Looking for more clues, I found out that this place was built in 1998 (see the sign below) and it closed in 2009.

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Banna Monkey Valley Ropeway inauguration sign, Dec 2015

It used to be very lively, with tourists present from 7 in the morning to 7 in the night.

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Visitor Center in 2005 (Panoramio)

A full fare round-trip ticket costed 220 yuans.

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Ticket office, Monkey Mountain Ropeway, Dec 2015

This ropeway was in fact the main entrance of the Mengle Culture Garden (猛泐文化园), located on the other side of the Mekong River in the Monkey Montain (猴山)1. As these next pictures of the former park entrance show, tourists used to park their cars on this side and take the ropeway to enter on the other side.

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Presentation of Mengle Culture Garden, Dec 2015
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Former park entrance, Monkey Mountain Ropeway, Dec 2015
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Former park gate, Monkey Mountain Ropeway, Dec 2015

It seems there was a ferry too.

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Mengle ferry, Monkey Moutain Ropeway, Dec 2015

I’ll go back to check all the other abandoned equipments on the other side of the river when I have the chance. For now, I can already state that this abandoned ropeway shows, from its architecture and size, how fast China’s policies in the field of tourism evolve. The ropeway used to look quite beautiful.

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Ropeway in 2005 (Panoramio)

It is being replaced by two gigantic resorts just nearby… Very scary!

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Gigantic new resort in construction next to Monkey Mountain Ropeway, Dec 2015

If you liked this place, the second part of this crazy urbex in the jungle is here. If you like abandoned entertainment sites, you can also read about an abandoned amusement park in Beijing.

  1. This garden also had a museum of minorities and culture that could be abandoned too… The other side of the Mekong River must be explored!

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