The idea of being a tower crane driver hit Liu Jiaqiong five years ago, when she worked as migrant worker in south China’s Guangdong Province and was impressed by the pictures taken by her friend, who was also a tower crane driver.

Knowing about her dream, the family said it hard for a girl to drive a tower crane. But Liu Jiaqiong, who was a little boyish and daring since childhood, stuck to her dream, despite opposition from some family members. 

To be granted a crane driver license, Liu Jiaqiong tried hard to overcome acrophobia. Liu can still remember the fright that almost collapsed her when she climbed the tower crane halfway up for the first time. 

To overcome acrophobia, Liu trained herself hard, climbing onto the tower and staying with the master driver in the cab as much as possible. With great effort, she got the driver license half a month later.

In the past three years, she has taken part in building many high-rises. "Now, I am building the Spring Eye in Kunming, which is twice as high as the tallest I have ever built," said Liu.

Reporting by Wang Changshan, Yang Muyuan, Pang Mingguang, Hu Chao and Wang Anhaowei (Xinhua); trans-editing by Wang Shixue