【New Silk Road Cultural Journey】

　　In July, the Qilian Mountains are under blue skies and white clouds, with lush greenery everywhere. Looking down from the mountains, green barley fields and golden rapeseed flower seas stretch all the way to the horizon. Standing on the high ground of the Shandan Military Horse Farm, at the end of the field of vision, a light gray line leaps into view—that is the nearly completed Lanzhou-Xinjiang High-Speed Railway.

　　The word "Qilian" comes from the Xiongnu language. Over 2,000 years ago, when Xiongnu cavalry crossed the Mongolian Desert, suddenly before their eyes appeared lush oases with abundant water and grass, and at the same time, a range of mountains towering into the clouds. They were stunned by the sight and exclaimed "Qilian," which means "Heaven."

　　For two thousand years along the Silk Road, the Qilian Mountains and the Mongolian Desert have always been insurmountable natural barriers. Between these two great barriers, only a narrow strip just a few dozen kilometers wide remains—the Hexi Corridor.

       At the Shandan Military Horse Farm Station of the Lanzhou-Xinjiang High-Speed Railway, construction workers are working intensively
　　"Although since the 1970s we have continuously carried out electrification upgrades on the existing Lanzhou-Xinjiang railway line, with the development of China's western economy and the active economic exchanges with Central Asia, the Lanzhou-Xinjiang Railway has long been approaching saturation," said Zhang Baozhu, chairman of Xi'an Electrification Company of China Railway Electrification Bureau Group, who is in charge of this section of construction at the Shandan Military Horse Farm Station site of the Lanzhou-Xinjiang High-Speed Railway.

　　As a key project in the National "12th Five-Year Plan" Comprehensive Transportation System Plan, the Lanzhou-Xinjiang High-Speed Railway starts from Lanzhou, Gansu in the east and ends at Urumqi, Xinjiang in the west, with a total length of over 1,700 kilometers and a designed speed of 200 to 250 kilometers per hour. It is known as the "Steel Silk Road." This high-speed railway has set two records: first, it is the world's longest high-speed railway built in a single phase; second, it is China's first high-speed railway constructed in high-altitude plateau regions.

　　The role of the Lanzhou-Xinjiang High-Speed Railway for the Silk Road cannot be underestimated, but building a high-speed railway in high-altitude areas is not easy. Upon arriving at the highest point of the Lanzhou-Xinjiang High-Speed Railway, Shandan Military Horse Farm Station, the Guangming Daily all-media interview team immediately exclaimed "Heaven!" As the altitude rose to about 3,000 meters, the temperature suddenly dropped to only 17 degrees Celsius, and the air became much thinner, posing a challenge for high-speed railway construction. "The morning temperature here is only seven or eight degrees Celsius, and there is not a day without wind. In autumn and winter, strong winds of force 7 to 8 often blow all day long," said Lü Yulin, a driver of an electrification construction work vehicle.

　　"Our principle for high-speed railway technology is introduction, digestion, absorption, and re-innovation. On this railway line, we have explored and mastered key technologies for construction in hundred-mile strong wind areas and high-altitude cold regions. Coupled with our decades of complete experience in the field of railway electrification, we are confident in extending China's high-speed rail to every city on the Silk Road," said Zhang Baozhu.

　　By the end of this year, this modern "Steel Silk Road" spanning the vast northwest of China will be fully completed. By then, travel from Lanzhou to Urumqi will be possible overnight, not only bringing the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau into the high-speed rail era but also greatly enhancing the transport capacity of the Eurasian Continental Bridge railway corridor.

　　"After the completion of the Lanzhou-Xinjiang High-Speed Railway, transportation in the Hexi Corridor will become more convenient, accelerating Gansu's pace of opening up to the west. For Zhangye, an important town on the Silk Road, the opening of the high-speed rail will further strengthen its status as a three-dimensional transportation hub and be more conducive to leveraging its role as a node city on the Silk Road Economic Belt," said Wan Zegang, deputy secretary of the Zhangye Municipal Party Committee.