In Hangzhou Qianjiang New City stands lots of tall buildings. When night falls, the tall buildings here will shine with beautiful lights.

While everyone was watching the bright lights, Wang Xuyang and his colleagues were patrolling the building to find the light source that is not on. After dawn, they would climb up the building for maintenance.

(Photo via Lin Yunlong)

At 10 o'clock in the morning on August 18, the hot sun high in the sky, on the 36th floor of Hangzhou Qiantang Aviation Edifice, at an altitude of 120 meters, Wang Xuyang sat on a wooden board with two ropes tied around his waist and climbed down.

Multilayer glass curtain wall

Wang Xuyang and his three colleagues found an unlit light source on the 36th floor of Qiantang Aviation Edifice. Mobile phone photos show that at night, after the roof of the building lights up, it is like a lilac five-petal flower, but there is a dim line in the middle. "What we are to repair is this vertical light source," Wang Xuyang said.

Putting on his work clothes, Wang Xuyang "set off". Climbing down from the platform, he reached the middle of the 35th and 34th floors in a few seconds. Wang Xuyang hung beside the glass curtain wall with his toes slightly touching the glass, and his hands began to check the signal lines. He took out his vise and began to change the wire.

While Wang Xuyang focused on his work, a colleague stood on the 36-story platform and paid attention to the ropes tied to it; There were also two colleagues downstairs, looking up at Wang Xuyang's every move. "Even if a coin falls, it may break things, so we should pay great attention to the above situation and maintain ground safety. We don’t let passers-by and vehicles approach this area."

After ten minutes or so, the signal line was changed and the light came on. Wang Xuyang made a gesture with satisfaction and put the tools back in the toolkit. He pulled the rope with both hands and his feet against the curtain wall, and "flew" down, light and free.

70,000 sets of lights of buildings

Wang Xuyang, 45, from Jinyun, Lishui, is a member of the lighting maintenance team of Hangzhou Road and Bridge Group Company and the leader of the lighting team of Jianggan Urban Management Bureau.

A few years ago, there were not many high-rise buildings in Hangzhou, so he mainly worked on the maintenance of outdoor billboards and neon lights.

Gradually, the city began to grow taller, and the city map expanded again. High-rise buildings in Qianjiang New City rose from the ground, and high-rise buildings with a height of about 100 meters abound here.

In Qianjiang New City, about 60 people from two companies carried out lighting maintenance on more than 70,000 sets of lights in 21 buildings. Among them, Hangzhou Road and Bridge Group Company have more than 30 workers doing this job, and there are 10 high-altitude electricians, all of whom are in their thirties and forties.

A high-altitude electrician like Wang Xuyang must have excellent physical fitness. "When the weather is hot, we inevitably feel uncomfortable. To prevent heatstroke, we drink some Huoxiang Zhengqi Liquid prepared by the company," Wang Xuyang said.

An hour of maintenance time

Although he has been doing such work for more than ten years. Sometimes Wang Xuyang doesn’t feel well: the facades of some buildings are made of aluminum plates, and when the sun shines, the hot temperature and reflected light make him feel particularly uncomfortable. In addition, the wind also makes him a little worried.

The longest maintenance time he has ever spent was one hour. If it happens to be a hot day, it will be really miserable. He felt the thick work clothes on his body, and the sweat had dried. "It's really hot to wear it, but its sun protection effect is good," He said with a smile.

Sometimes when Wang Xuyang gets off work, he goes to visit the big supermarket in Qianjiang New City. When he is free at night, he will go to the riverside to run and see the bustling crowds, and often think of his wife and children far away. "I don't want them to know my work is dangerous and hard. I just want to make more money and make their lives better."

(Compiled by Xu Yuhong, translated by Tao Mingzhou)