China couple dice with death on mountain cliff side to beat long tourist queues

Millions of people in China have been shocked by a daredevil couple who got into potentially deadly trouble after taking a short cut down a cliff on a famous mountain in eastern China.

Video footage of the incident on May 4 went viral and attracted 8 million views on a social media platform.

In the video filmed by a tourist from a distance, the pair, who were stuck in a queue of tourists, attempted to bypass the staircases and take a short cut directly down a cliffside on Mount Tai in Shandong province.

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Visitors swamp Chinese tourist sites during ‘golden week’

Visitors swamp Chinese tourist sites during ‘golden week’

However, as they tried to climb over an artificial wall to join the line ahead of them, the man slipped while carrying the woman on his shoulders to help her over the wall.

They fell off the cliff together.

The man was became stuck on a rock platform while grabbing tightly onto the woman’s legs.

The woman, whose head smashed against rocks and bushes as she fell, escaped from falling thanks to the man.