China's first female expert tree climber conquers fear of heights

Yu Yanling, a former track athlete from Xiamen in southeastern China’s Fujian province, is the country’s first internationally certified female professional tree climber. Now in her 30s, she has turned a childhood fear of heights into a thriving career spent high in the canopy, pruning urban trees. She discovered the sport by chance at university after seeing students suspended from branches by ropes and witnessing the joy it brought them. Her athletic background helped her master the skill quickly, and after graduation she began taking on tree-related work.

Unlike conventional pruning, which is often done from outside the canopy, professional tree climbers work from within, reaching dead or dangerous branches that machinery cannot access. Yu has climbed trees as tall as 60 metres. She says women bring special advantages to the job, such as greater flexibility and attention to detail. Her story challenges gender stereotypes in a physically demanding field and highlights the growing recognition of tree climbing as a skilled profession in China.