Teen's umbrella jab cracks world's largest glass-floor observation deck in China

A glass-floor observation deck at the Baoquan cliff scenic area in China's central Henan Province — billed as the world's largest of its kind — cracked after a teenage visitor struck it with an umbrella.

The South China Morning Post reported Sunday that the incident occurred June 20 at the Tianxia scenic area in Baoquan, Hui County, in the Taihang Mountain Baotan Grand Canyon. Cracks appeared in the glass floor of the record-holding structure, prompting an emergency evacuation of tourists.

The observatory entered the Guinness World Records in 2023 as the world's largest glass observation deck. Built on two levels, its combined walkway area spans 1,700 square meters — about 514 pyeong (1 pyeong equals 3.3 square meters). It holds a 5A rating, the highest designation in China's official tourism classification system.

On the day of the incident, a teenage visitor was reportedly poking the glass floor with the tip of an umbrella when a panel cracked.

The site's management said the following day that "a young person who appeared to be a teenager was jabbing the glass floor with the tip of an umbrella, causing cracks to appear on the surface of one glass panel." Staff immediately evacuated tourists from the area, and no further incidents occurred, the operator said.

Access to the cracked section has since been restricted, while the rest of the observatory continues to operate normally, the operator added.

"The glass floor is made of triple-layer safety glass, and the glass the teenager cracked is no more than the top layer of a single panel," the operator said, adding that the structure's load-bearing capacity and overall safety were unaffected.

The operator also said it would more strictly warn tourists not to strike the glass with umbrellas or sharp objects.

Online, however, debate over the observatory's safety and the quality of its glass floor has been growing.

Some users raised concerns, asking "If it can crack from swinging an umbrella, couldn't someone in high heels break it just as easily?" and "National standards are only a minimum — projects involving human lives need far higher ones." Others took aim at the act of deliberate damage, saying the boy and his family should be held responsible.

According to a 2019 report by China Newsweek, more than 2,000 such glass bridges or glass-floor attractions exist at tourist sites across China.

A man in China who changed the locks on vacant apartments he did not own and fraudulently sold them to acquaintances, pocketing more than 200 million won ($145,000), has been sentenced to a heavy prison term.