Between mountains and seas - written on the occasion of the opening of the Guinan high-speed railway

Cangshan is like a sea, with peaks stretching to the sky.

On the morning of August 31st, as the G4308 train slowly departed from Nanning East Station, the entire Guinan high-speed railway connecting Guiyang and Nanning was put into operation, and the "Fuxing" train sped through the mountains.

On August 31st, a high-speed train passed by the Yinpo River Grand Bridge of the Guinan High Speed Railway in the suburbs of Dushan County, Guizhou Province in the early morning light. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Xu

After more than 6 years of construction, the 482-kilometer-long Guinan high-speed railway passes through karst areas with extremely complex geological conditions, extending the high-speed railway network in western China further south. This "artery", the first designed to travel at a speed of 350 kilometers per hour in Guizhou and Guangxi, is an important component of China's "Eight Verticals and Eight Horizontals" high-speed railway network, including the Baohai high-speed railway. It will provide a new channel for the western region to go out to sea, so that the mountains will no longer be high and the sea will no longer be far.

Raise new hopes for a better life for ethnic minorities

Yaoshan is one of the poorest "three mountains" in the history of Guizhou. The Yao people, a straight crossing ethnic group with a tradition of suffering and migration, have continuously migrated to deep mountains in order to avoid war in history; After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the Yao people, under the leadership of the Party, "migrated seven times" out of the deep mountains and embarked on a new life.

Nowadays, with the opening of the Guinan high-speed railway, the people of Yaoshan Yao Township in Libo County, Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture have integrated into the map of China's high-speed railway. Yaoshan Ancient Village, less than half an hour's drive from the high-speed railway station, opens its mountain gate and embraces the world.

The Guili section of the Guinan high-speed railway has been put into operation for the first time, and this is when the high-speed trains enter the Libo station. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ou Dongqu

The Yaoshan Ancient Village amidst the misty rain is adorned with newly built village history museums, characteristic homestays, and handicraft workshops. If the weather is sunny, there will be a large-scale live performance with the theme of "Yao Mountain and Yao People" every night.

26 year old villager Xie Shaohua is one of the hosts of this performance. She, who only has a primary school education, said that when she was young, her family had poor conditions and she went out to work at a young age. Now, she can find a decent job at her doorstep. "Having more contact with the outside world and gaining knowledge is the only way to change our hometown and the future of the children in Yao Township," Xie Shaohua said.

On July 3rd, tourists took photos at the Yaoshan Ancient Village Scenic Area in Libo County, Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province. Shen Jizhong

"In the past, transportation relied on walking and communication relied on roaring. Yao compatriots never imagined that there would be a day when mountains and the sea were just a stone's throw away." Xie Yuming, the party branch secretary of Yaoshan Village in Yaoshan Yao Township, said that as a once deeply impoverished village, they will take advantage of the opportunity of high-speed rail opening to further develop the tourism industry and promote rural revitalization.

The high-speed rail has arrived at the shanzhai, and ethnic minorities are looking forward to visitors from afar.

From the map, it can be seen that the Guinan high-speed railway took a turn after entering Guangxi and passed through Huanjiang, the only Maonan Autonomous County in China, before heading south.

Huanjiang Maonan Autonomous County has picturesque karst landforms and is also a world natural heritage site. However, it has long suffered from poverty due to its location in a poverty-stricken area with concentrated rocky desertification. Nowadays, the high-speed rail passing through the "doorstep" is the expectation of the local people.

"Our Maonan ethnic group's beautiful clothing and exquisite bamboo weaving will definitely impress guests." Wu Mengyao, a Maonan ethnic group girl, returned to her hometown after graduating from the Art College of Guangxi University for Nationalities in 2020.

Entering the Chen Shuang Si Fang Intangible Cultural Heritage Research and Learning Base where she is located, more than 10 weaving machines are placed in the middle of the hall, and various ethnic handmade embroidery, clothing, and patchwork paintings are colorful. Thinking about the opening of high-speed rail bringing more passenger traffic, Wu Mengyao's team is working hard to design a cultural and creative product.

Inviting inheritors of intangible cultural heritage as teaching teachers, attracting local poverty-stricken households for employment, and preparing e-commerce platforms to help agricultural products go global... Wu Mengyao is using what she has learned to make the lives of her fellow villagers more prosperous.

Breaking through the difficulties of high-speed rail construction in karst areas

"It's unbelievable to build a high-speed railway under such geological conditions!" Wu Shangqian, Deputy Commander of the Guinan High speed Railway Construction Command of Yungui Railway Guangxi Co., Ltd., still remembers what a foreign railway expert said.

The Guinan high-speed railway is the most complex project that Wu Shangqian has encountered since his employment. The bridge tunnel ratio is over 90%, the unstable karst geology, and the hidden deep karst caves and cavities... The huge risks and challenges have deterred many domestic and foreign experts. At the moment of its opening, he was deeply moved. Behind the success, builders have overcome one difficulty after another with wisdom and hard work.

The Guinan high-speed railway line passes through 80% of karst landforms, with dangerous rocks and falling rocks densely distributed. Wu Shangqian introduced that focusing on many technical difficulties in engineering construction in difficult mountainous areas, 33 scientific research projects have been approved for the Guinan high-speed railway, and participating units have invested more than 40 million yuan to carry out scientific experiments or new technology application research.

In the Guizhou section, an engineering measure of "there is a bridge in the cave, there is a hole in the bridge" has been implemented. Wang Jian, Technical Director of the Guinan High speed Railway Project Department of China Railway Fourth Bureau, introduced that during construction, the Jialiangshan Tunnel located between Dushan East and Libo encountered a large karst cave with a longitudinal length of about 60 meters, a transverse width of 20 to 65 meters, and a height of about 65 meters.

"If it were filled, the volume would be too large. Later, we changed the design and chose to build a reinforced concrete arch bridge with a span of 64 meters in the tunnel to span over it." Wang Jian said that based on the key research topic carried out by this project, we have obtained 7 invention patents so far.

The experimental high-speed train passes through the 90000 Dashan No.1 Tunnel, which is 17 kilometers long. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ou Dongqu

Bridge and tunnel construction is a last resort. Arriving at the longest tunnel on the entire Guinan high-speed railway line - the Jiuwandashan No.1 Tunnel, it feels like walking into an underground maze. Li Kaijun, project manager of Guiyang South High Speed Railway Lot 6 of China Railway 18th Bureau, said that the tunnel, with a total length of 17012 meters, passes through the buffer zone of the South China Karst World Natural Heritage Site, known as the "earth's emerald". During the construction, more than 680 large and small karst caves were revealed, which would be encountered every tens of meters of excavation. Karst is strongly developed, and there are many unforeseen factors such as mud and water inrush, landslides, and gas.

Faced with construction difficulties, the project team coordinated resource allocation, strengthened scientific research and research, and continuously optimized the construction plan, ultimately solving a series of difficulties and achieving the goal of long and short tunnels, allowing the tunnel to achieve safe passage 5 months ahead of schedule.

"The difficulty lies in ensuring construction safety and quality while minimizing the impact on the ecology." This is the personal experience of many participating personnel.

Arriving at the Chengjiang National Wetland Park in Du'an, Guangxi, the river water is clear and the rare and endangered aquatic plant, seaweed, blooms on the surface of the river. The Chengjiang Double Line Extra Large Bridge, with a total length of 15.5 kilometers, is the longest bridge on the entire Guinan high-speed railway line, with 2.56 kilometers passing through it.

On August 31st, a high-speed train passed through the Qingshuihe double track super large bridge of the Guinan high-speed railway located in Duyun City, Guizhou Province. Photo by Yang Wenbin, journalist from Xinhua News Agency

Su Li, Chief Engineer of China Railway Beijing Engineering Bureau Group's Guinan High speed Railway Project Department, said that only 46 segmental assembled beams were set up in the park area, reducing 34 bridge piers compared to the conventional construction plan.

The concept of environmental protection runs through the entire construction process. Up to now, 251 species of terrestrial vertebrates have been discovered in Chengjiang National Wetland Park, including approximately 160 species of birds. Common national protected animals such as egrets, brown winged crows and cuckoos, and white magpies and pigeons are very sensitive to the running lights of trains.

The scenery of Chengjiang National Wetland Park in Du'an Yao Autonomous County, Guangxi, captured on August 31, 2021. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lu Bo'an

"In order to prevent birds from being disturbed by car lights at night, we have set up a 3.69 kilometer long sound and light barrier here," said Su Li. This not only blocks the sound of the train during operation, but the design of raising it to 4 meters effectively blocks the light of the train and reduces the impact of high-speed rail operation on various animals.

Opening up new channels for regional development and opening up to the outside world

From "Colorful Guizhou" to "magnificent Guangxi", the Guinan high-speed railway connects a "golden tourism route" with dense natural and cultural landscapes. In the Zhangjiang Scenic Area of Libo, the Xiaoqikong Scenic Area is bustling with visitors.

On August 15th, tourists visited the Xiaoqikong Scenic Area in Libo, Guizhou Province. Photo by Yang Ying, journalist from Xinhua News Agency

"This year, the number of tourists received by Xiaoqikong has exceeded 4 million. During the summer reception, the proportion of tourists from outside the province has significantly increased." Pei Tingliang, Director of the Management Office of the Zhangjiang Scenic Area in Libo, said that the opening of high-speed rail is both an opportunity and a challenge. The local area is enriching tourism formats, improving service quality, and allowing tourists to stay and experience.

In the view of Ye Lin, the Secretary of the Libo County Party Committee, the "magnet effect" of the high-speed rail opening this time will effectively attract tourists along the line, significantly expand the radius of customer sources, promote the expansion of the tourism circle, and transform "holiday tours" into "weekday tours" and "peak season tours" into "four season tours".

"Standing at a new historical starting point, we will make good use of the 'two treasures' of natural and cultural treasures, and write three articles on' resources, customer sources, and services', striving to make Libo a world-class tourist destination." Ye Lin said.

Not only tourism, but also seizing the opportunity of open channels, promoting the export of characteristic products, the introduction of resource projects, and the convergence of people and logistics, making the transformation of "passing economy" into "landing economy" a key focus of planning in various regions along the route.

After the opening of the Guinan high-speed railway, most of the passenger transportation business of the Guizhou Guangxi railway can be transferred to the Guinan high-speed railway. "For every reduction of one pair of passenger cars on the Guizhou Guangxi Railway, it can increase the transportation capacity of 1.3 pairs of freight cars." Huang Yining, Deputy General Manager of China Railway Nanning Bureau Group Co., Ltd., said that the opening of the Guinan high-speed railway will effectively enhance the freight transportation capacity of the existing railway trunk lines of the western land sea new channel, such as the Guizhou Guangxi railway, and overall improve the operational efficiency of the western land sea new channel.

The Guili section of the Guinan high-speed railway has been put into operation for the first time, and this is when the high-speed trains enter the Libo station. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ou Dongqu

As an important node city of the western land sea new channel, Hechi City in Guangxi is taking the completion and opening of the Guinan high-speed railway as an opportunity to accelerate the construction of the high-speed railway new area. Vice Mayor of Hechi City, Lu Jingyu, said that the local area is actively planning a high-speed rail logistics base, planning and constructing large-scale logistics parks, freight stations, warehousing and distribution centers, and other logistics backbone supporting facilities to achieve high-speed rail passenger and freight transportation, further unleashing the value of the channel.

The relevant person in charge of the Development and Reform Department of China National Railway Group Co., Ltd. said that, from blocking mountains to connecting mountains and seas, the Guiyang South High speed Railway connects with Chengdu Guiyang, Guiyang Guangzhou, Shanghai Kunming and other high-speed railway lines, which will effectively serve the national "the Belt and Road" initiative, improve the comprehensive transportation hub system in southwest and southern China, and bring more development opportunities and cooperation space.

Text and video posters