A 43-year-old woman from China has gained widespread admiration for her incredible ability to scale cliffs over 100 meters high without using any safety equipment. Luo Dengpin, known as the "Chinese Spider-Woman," is celebrated as the world's only female practitioner of the ancient Miao tradition of bare-handed rock climbing, as reported by the South China Morning Post. Luo can ascend a 108-meter-high cliff, equivalent to a 30-storey building, with ease, gracefully navigating sheer rock faces.
Ms. Luo is currently the sole female among the region’s "spider people," and her climbing journey began at the age of 15, guided by her father. Initially motivated by a desire to compete with boys, she also sought to earn a living by gathering medicinal herbs and bird droppings from swallows' nests on cliffs, which were used as fertilizer.
"They said this was only for boys, but I believe men and women are equal, so I learned. That is how my journey as a spider woman began," Ms. Luo explained during a 2017 interview with the BBC. Reflecting on her early years, she added, "Before this area was developed, I climbed every day to collect swallows' droppings. We would scale 108 metres. Foreigners were often frightened by our bare-handed climbing, but I grew accustomed to it. After doing it so many times, my hands became callused," she told Shandong TV.
Ms. Luo’s remarkable skill has deep roots in the Miao people's ancient cliff burial practices. The Miao, who traditionally live in remote and mountainous regions, believe that burying their dead in high-altitude locations allows them to "look towards their ancestral homeland" in central China. Over generations, these climbing skills have been preserved and passed down within the community.
In modern times, Luo has turned her expertise into a tourist attraction. "Many visitors wanted to see how we gathered the herbs and paid us to demonstrate. My income isn't high, but I take pride in being a spider woman," she shared.
Her story has resonated with many on social media, inspiring comments such as, "People in the past were truly capable of everything. Cliffs and steep mountains did not deter them from exploration," and "Kudos to the brave spider woman. Women are just as capable as men, and true masters live among the people."
