China on Saturday opened the world's most elevated railroad with
the first pair of passenger trains traveling across the "roof of
the world".
Two trains set off at Golmud and Lhasa, the two start-up points
of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway that is dubbed an
"engineering marvel" that has linked Tibet with the rest of China
for the first time.
Chinese President Hu Jintao attended a launching ceremony of the
Qinghai-Tibet Railway in Golmud, northwest China's Qinghai
Province, and made a keynote speech.
"The opening to traffic of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is another
magnificent accomplishment we have achieved in our socialist
modernization drive. Construction of the Qinghai-Tibet railroad is
a long-cherished dream of generations of the Chinese people," said
Hu, who is also General Secretary of Chinese Communist Party (CPC)
Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military
Commission.
"The project is not only a magnificent feat in China's history
of railway construction, but also a great miracle of the world's
railroad history," according to the president.
Hu said this successful practice has made it clear again to the
people at large that diligent and intelligent Chinese people are
ambitious, self-confident and capable of continuously making
extraordinary achievements, and they are ambitious, self-confident
and capable of standing amongst the world's advanced nations.
The feat of completion will be recorded forever into the history
of the People's Republic of China, he added.
Hu said the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway has
brought forth four enlightenments.
Firstly, we must stick to development, which is the top
imperative task for our Party to govern and rejuvenate our country,
so as to continuously enhance the country's overall strength.
Secondly, we must rev up scientific and technological progress
so as to greatly improve our capability of innovation.
Thirdly, we must bring into full play the political advantage of
the socialist institution, so as to realize a situation that the
entire nation is united to jointly accomplish feats.
Fourthly, we must carry forward the spirit of arduous struggle
and unceasingly strife in order to dauntlessly create historic
feats.
President Hu required railway authorities to do a good job in
management and use of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway and to establish
awareness of the principles of putting the people first and of safe
development.
He said that labor security for railway workers and physical
health of passengers should be ensured. He emphasized the extreme
importance of environmental protection of the Qinghai-Tibet
Plateau.
Hu noted railway workers and passengers traveling on the
Qinghai-Tibet Railway should consciously treasure waters and
mountains as well as grass and woods on the Plateau, and they
should help conserve the eco system and environment along the
railway.
According to Hu, launching of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway will
provide a historic opportunity for the economic and social
development in Qinghai Province and Tibet Autonomous Region.
The two should take the wonderful opportunity to carry out the
conception of scientific development, design industrial
distribution in a scientific way, optimize the distribution of
resources and push forward the economic restructuring, so as to
speed up the formation of economic patterns with regional
advantages and ethnic characteristics.
Hu said that efforts should be made to explore in a scientific
manner the tourism resources along the railway, to create tourist
brands with the plateau characteristics and to rev the development
of local tourism industry.
Upon the operation of the railroad, endeavors should be exerted
to develop advantageous resources and provide more jobs to help
increase income of local farmers and herdsmen and improve the
living standards of various ethnic groups along the transport line,
according to Hu.
He required related governmental departments to team up with
railway authorities and the governments of Qinghai and Tibet to
gradually build the areas along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway into
booming economies with social harmony and beautiful
environment.
After his speech, the President then cut the ribbon for the
launching of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. A passenger train coded
"Qing 1", carrying officials and model workers on the project,
pulled out from the Golmud station at 11:05 AM for Lhasa where it
was due to arrive on Saturday night.
Some 1,142 kilometers away, Tibet's regional capital Lhasa saw
off a train bound for Lanzhou, capital of northwest China's Gansu Province, at 11:12 AM. The train, coded
"Tibet 2", carries about 700 passengers in 16 compartments and is
expected to arrive in Lanzhou in 30 hours.
Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan presided over the launching
ceremony, which was also attended by Party chiefs of Tibet and
Qinghai, as well as 2,600 people from various circles, including
exemplary workers who have made special contributions to the
railway construction.
Zhou Yongkong, State Councilor, cut the ribbon at another
ceremony held at the Railway Station of Lhasa, and saw off the
inland-bound train.
Liu Zhijun, Minister of Railway, said at the Golmud ceremony
that the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway was a strategic
decision made by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of
China and the State Council, and it is an unprecedented difficult
job in human's history.
Norbu, a 28-year-old Tibetan farmer from Gonggar, left home
before daybreak to join the celebrations at Lhasa railway station
and to catch a glimpse of the train. "I'll board a train myself
sometime to visit the inland areas."
Xie Yuke from Qinghai provincial railways administration, 35, a
Han ethnic, is piloting the train's maiden trip on the plateau.
Among the passengers are Tibetan herdsmen, farmers, retired
governmental officials, builders of the railway and
journalists.
Trains traveling across the roof of the world, with extra oxygen
pumped into the cabins to prevent passengers from suffering
altitude sickness, will traverse a mountain pass sitting 5,072
meters above sea level as it rises up to the Tibetan plateau, and
will drive through the Hoh Xil, China's largest area of uninhabited
land.
The cars were installed with environment-friendly toilets,
wastewater deposit tank and garbage treatment facilities to protect
environment along the railroad.
All the Chinese characters that appear on the electronic screen
in each railway car have been translated into Tibetan and
English.
The Qinghai-Tibet railway is 1,956 kilometers long. It stretches
from Xining, capital of Qinghai Province, to Lhasa. The section of
814 km from Xining to Golmud began operation in 1984 and the
Golmud-Lhasa section started construction on June 29, 2001.
The railway is the world's highest and longest plateau railroad
and also the first railway connecting the Tibet Autonomous Region
with the rest of China.
The railway is projected to help double tourism revenues by 2010
and reduce transport costs for goods by 75 percent in Tibet,
officials said.
(Xinhua News Agency July 1, 2006)
