A climbing competition was held in Zhangjiajie City of central China's Hunan Province on Sunday, with 40 professional runners rushing to cover all the 999 steps of the "Stairway to Heaven" in the picturesque Tianmen Mountain.
The Tianmen Mountain is famous for the thrilling stairway, extending 300 meters and featuring an average slope of 45 degrees and a vertical distance of 150 meters.
The rain and fog posed an additional challenge to the competition and every step was to test the participants' endurance, patience and physical strength.
Ye Zhaoyang from south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region won the men's title, while Zhang Gejun from east China's Shandong Province won the women's race.
"I feel extraordinarily excited. I'm still very nervous because the climbing route is really difficult, and I was not very well prepared. Although I won the competition, I'm yet to calm down and am still excited, feeling if I were running to the heavy. It's really thrilling," said Ye.
"I like such climbing competitions because they are fun and challenging. I think it's much better than the track I usually run on. I'm fond of such competitions, especially those in scenic spots. Zhangjiajie is very beautiful. If the competition is held next year, I will come again for sure," said Zhang
Some 800 amateur runners took part in another running competition on a winding road in the Tianmen Mountain on Sunday morning.
Zhangjiajie hosts 999-step stairway climbing competition
China's two major power grid operators -- the State Grid Corporation of China (State Grid) and China Southern Power Grid (CSG) -- reported a surge in investment in the first quarter of 2026, underscoring efforts to strengthen infrastructure construction and support high-quality socioeconomic development in China.
The State Grid said it completed fixed-asset investment worth 129 billion yuan (about 18.77 billion U.S. dollars) in the first three months of this year, up 37 percent the corresponding period of the previous year. The spending has driven more than 250 billion yuan (36 billion U.S. dollars) of investment across the wider industrial chain.
Key projects such as the Panxi ultra-high-voltage (UHV) alternating current (AC) line and the Anhui-Hubei back-to-back direct current (DC) project have seen ground broken for their construction, while several west-to-east power transmission projects have been upgraded.
Investment in connecting renewable energy generation to the grid was reported to have exceeded 10 billion yuan (1.45 billion U.S. dollars) from January to March, a year-on-year rise of more than 50 percent.
The CSG also reported robust growth in investment in the three-month period, with fixed-asset investment reaching 38.45 billion yuan (5.58 billion U.S. dollars), up about 50 percent from a year earlier.
Among its achievements, the company completed and commissioned 80 key projects, including the 220 kV cross-sea power grid interconnection project, which was officially put into operation on March 20. The project ended years of grid isolation on the Weizhou Island in south China by linking it to the main power system of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The construction of 17 other major energy projects, including one linking the power grid of the Xizang Autonomous Region in southwest China with that of Guangdong Province in south China, is advancing rapidly. These projects are expected to bolster regional industries, the maritime economy, digital collaboration and the transition to green energy.
"By accelerating major project construction, investment during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) is expected to approach 1 trillion yuan (145 billion U.S. dollars), driving a further 2 trillion yuan (290 billion U.S. dollars) of investment across upstream and downstream industries," said Dong Yanle, deputy general manager of the Engineering Construction Department under the China Southern Power Grid.
China ramps up power grid investment in January-March to boost growth
