When pictures of a bending, undulating bridge over a deep gorge surfaced online, it was quickly slammed as a fake.

It was nothing but a computer-generated image, the internet said.

Nothing like this could exist in real life, right?

Tweet from @Cmdr_Hadfield

Wrong.

An astronaut shared aerial footage of the Ruyi Bridge in Zhejiang Province in China in January, capturing the interest of the internet.

(The man, Chris Hadfield, just happens to be an astronaut. He did not take the footage from space. Just a drone.)

Despite its inconceivable appearance, the bridge is most certainly real.

It’s 140 metres high and made up of three bridges, to interpret the Chinese object jade ruyi – a sword that symbolises power and good luck.

Here’s a rough translation from the Shenxianju Scenic Area park’s Weibo account, about the bridge:

With a total length of 100 metres and a vertical height of more than 140 metres, it spans the east and west gorges of Shenxianju. Intertwined into an undulating bridge body, visitors have a sense of experience when they pass. The rigid and soft shape is perfectly integrated with the natural scenery of the Fairy House, just like a jade ruyi in the sky, and like a fairy draped silk. The painting is like a screen, and when seen from a distance, the mountains are full of movement, and they also carry beauty and auspiciousness.

Put it on the to-visit list and pray you don’t get vertigo.