Xinhua: Qinghai-Tibet Railroad Tracks Laid At Tanggula Pass in Qinghai

November 1, 2006

Rails for the Qinghai-Tibet railroad were laid at 16,641 feet (5,072 meters), the highest elevation that the railway will reach, on August 24, according to a Xinhua report. Vice Minister of Railways Sun Yongfu acknowledged that laying the tracks at Qinghai's Tanggula Pass was "a tough part" of the project. High altitude and frigid conditions pose "a major challenge," according to La Youyu, deputy director-general of the project's headquarters.

Rails for the Qinghai-Tibet railroad were laid at 16,641 feet (5,072 meters), the highest elevation that the railway will reach, on August 24, according to a Xinhua report. Vice Minister of Railways Sun Yongfu acknowledged that laying the tracks at Qinghai's Tanggula Pass was "a tough part" of the project. High altitude and frigid conditions pose "a major challenge," according to La Youyu, deputy director-general of the project's headquarters. He said that nearly 300 miles of track cross frozen earth that is "vulnerable to climate change" and can thaw during summer and "distend the railway base in winter." Railway design incorporates measures that include "heat preservation, slope protection, and roadbed ventilation in frozen earth areas" in order to "avoid possible dangers," La said.

The railway is due to start trial operation in July 2006, according to a March 2005 Xinhua report. Chinese media reports emphasize the boost that the railway is expected to provide to the regional economy, and claim that Tibetans eagerly await its completion. A China Central Television (CCTV) report on August 5 said that Tibetans call the tracks "the Second Road Toward Happy Life." The first is the all-weather highway that connects Lhasa with Xining, the capital of Qinghai province.

Media and academic reports compiled outside of China suggest that Tibetans are concerned that the railway will increase the rate of influx of Han Chinese into the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). The Chinese government's official Web site posts a 2002 report featuring a senior TAR official saying that Tibetan worries about assimilation are an "absurdity." But implementation provisions for China's Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law promulgated in May 2005, and Communist Party guidelines released in July, call for Chinese workers, professionals, and college graduates to travel to China's western provinces to seek employment.

Additional information about the railroad project is available in the CECC 2004 Annual Report.