That is an impressive piece of engineering. ENSHI, HUBEI, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's most difficult mountain railway was linked up in Enshi Prefecture, central China's Hubei Province, and is expected to open within the year, according to officials at the railway's construction headquarters Wednesday. The Yichang-Yiwan Railway, totalling 377 km in length, runs from the Yiwan District in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality to Yichang City of Hubei Province. It was designed to greatly shorten the journey between the mountainous regions in the southwest and the eastern parts of China, according to Zhang Mei, head of the engineering administration center of the Ministry of Railway. The railway trip from Chongqing to Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, for example, will take only five hours once the link is open to rail traffic, instead of the previous 22 hours, said Zhang. The railway was first laid out in 1903 by Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Kuomintang party, over 100 years ago. The reason the construction had not begun till 2003 is that the railway must travel one of the most mountainous regions in China's southwest, whose difficult terrain made the construction work the most difficult in China's railway history, said Zhang. "Beneath the luxuriant mountains we encountered myriad natural barriers, such as underground rivers, limestone caves, and coal seams," said Zhang. To link the line, workers had to build 253 bridges and dig 159 tunnels, which account for 74 percent of the total railway length, winning the railway the title of the "tunnel and bridge museum." Starting in late 2003, it took seven years for the construction to be completed, said Zhao Hui, project manager of China Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group, which undertook the construction. "I joined the project at the age of 25, and now I'm 32. I've dedicated my youth to this railway," said Zhao.
I agreed. This is very impressive work. Another impressive civil engineering feats in my opinion was the Canadian transcontinental railway, which was completed in the late 19th century. There were several railway bridges built that really pushed the technological envelope back in the 19th century. The West doesn't seem to do this kind of impressive thing any more.
West had done this before in smaller scales. China is actually catching up, but in a very large scale. This infrasture construction wave can last 15 -20 more years. Tiger King, seriouly, I think it will be quite a journey and a thrill just experiencing the whole ride.
A war between China and US is not far fetch. The US is preparing for a big WAR......No matter how China is bending over or staying low profile like she used to, the big war will happen and the whole EAST ASIA will be destroyed. The US economy has been bleeding after the 2008 financial meltdown. The wound is so great the only way to stop the bleeding "temporarily" is to issue astronomical amount of debts. And East Asian countries are major buyers of debts. The debts will eventually kill the American economy and America knows it. So the best solution is to start a major major war in East Asia. The destruction of East Asia will bring many good things to America. 1) The US owes nothing to its major creditors in the East Asian countries no more. US debts to China will be automatically canceled by the US. US debts to East Asian allies will be forced waived as allies' contributions to the US military missions. 2) Reduce the over-supply problems in the world by destroying East Asian factories and economies. 3) Create demand to rebuild East Asia. Then The great American Empire can go on and lecture other about the values of freedom and democracy. The East Asian Tigers can go on and be a group of happy working bees working for pennies. What i am predicting is not far fetched at all. My prediction is based on historical behavior of the US government with sound understanding of Keynesian economics. The current US policy to rescue its own economy is based on stupid and useless Keynesian Economics. And Keynesian economics openly stated that "A major war" is the best cure for a major recession. Here you have it.
You know, the historic irony of all this is, that Chinese (in China) one century ago was busy tearing up the railroads and telegraph wires, accusing them of being ungodly western influences that was bad for China, and was a huge part of the driving sentiment behind the Boxer Rebellion. Elsewhere in the diaspora, Chinese at the time were helping the US and Canada achieve their national rail cohesion by doing the bulk of the heavy manual labor. Chinese have always been great engineers, if given the proper motivation. The PRC realizes the political and national importance of providing rapid rail transport to and from distant or hard to access regions. It allows them to maintain better security and will also ensure rapid regional growth, the same that happened in the US with the advent of extensive national rail. The other silver lining is that it lessens the need for personal motor vehicles and the excess consumption of fossil fuels.
