Chinese climber falls to his death. (Photo: YouTube)
Cape Town - Travelling is exciting and can get your adrenaline pumping when you finally visit sites and landmarks you've always dreamed of visiting.
And while this extreme excitement may translate into doing some crazy and risky acts such as "rooftopping" or taking "naked selfies" to capture a moment, travellers are advised to always think twice before jumping into a dangerous or insensitive situation all for the sake of the 'gram and to impress social media followers.
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Take for instance this famous Chinese climber and stuntman, Wu Yongning – renowned for his skyscraper antics – who plunged to his death while attempting “rooftopping”.
The "rooftopping" enthusiast gained a large following on the social network Weibo, for his videos showing him summitting the top of skyscrapers without the use of safety equipment.
Following a halt in his Weibo updates in November, it was revealed that he died after falling from a 62-storey building in the city of Changsha, BBC reports.
What’s more shocking than how he died is that the act was performed as part of a challenge to win money, say Chinese media reports.
This is his final video:
What exactly is “rooftopping”?
The act of “rooftopping” involves climbing tall city buildings without safety equipment. It has recently become quite popular globally.
“The rooftopping trend is popular across the world in heavily developed cities. Despite safety concerns, many climbers insist that the use of safety equipment detracts from the experience,” says BBC.
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UK climber James Kington told the BBC last year that "The moment you start wearing safety equipment is the moment you've got doubt and when you've got doubt, that's when things can go wrong."
"It completely changes the way you look at things. You see everything as a possibility rather than walls restricting you," adds Kington. Surely Yongning’s tragic case proves this theory wrong.
Dangerous performances
The 26-year-old Yongning died on 8 November, but his death was only confirmed by his girlfriend in a post on Chinese social media a month later.
He had martial arts training and had previously acted in some television and film productions, says BBC, adding that he warned his Weibo viewers not to imitate his dangerous performances.
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However, Chinese media reports says that his “rooftopping” following proved to be “more lucrative”, with reports confirming that he was participating in a "rooftopping" challenge with the chance of winning prize money.
South China Morning Post reports that a family member said "He planned to propose to his girlfriend (the day after the challenge)" and “needed the money for the wedding, and for medical treatment for his ailing mother."
While some followers on Weibo say that they were “speechless” after finding out why he did the stunt, others say "He went a bit over the top, always trying things that are beyond his ability".
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