——A profile of Li Jing, Chief Engineer of the Changxin Civil Engineering Testing Branch of China Railway Seventh Group Wuhan Company

Li Jing

　　In 2005, she was named a Technical Model of China Railway Seventh Group Wuhan Company; in 2006 and 2007, she was twice named an Advanced Worker of China Railway Seventh Group Wuhan Company; in 2008, she was named an Advanced Female Employee of China Railway Seventh Group; in 2009, she was named a Model Advanced Female Employee of China Railway Seventh Group; and in 2010, she was named a Model of Merit in Hubei Province and became a member of the expert pool of the Hubei Provincial Transportation Quality Supervision System... She is Li Jing, Chief Engineer of the Changxin Civil Engineering Testing Branch of China Railway Seventh Group Wuhan Company—a testing technical backbone who appears delicate but is capable and pragmatic.

　　Through every storm along the way, she has never been discouraged and has never known fear, blooming boldly like a steel rose.

　　Hard Work and the Courage to Press On Under Pressure

　　In the early stage of the Hewu Railway project, the Changxin Civil Engineering Testing Branch of China Railway Seventh Group Wuhan Company (hereinafter referred to as the Branch) undertook durable concrete construction for the first time, with tight deadlines and heavy tasks. A leader said to Li Jing sternly: "If there is any problem with the mix proportion, you will be held responsible." Under enormous pressure, and with no technical experience to draw on, Li Jing led several young trainees to screen raw materials and trial-mix concrete continuously for two months, adjusting and exploring. With a highly responsible attitude toward her work and an unyielding drive to never give up, she successfully overcame all the difficulties of durable concrete.

　　She often tells her apprentices: "Not every stream can merge into rivers and seas; those that do not flow become stagnant water. Not every seed can grow into a towering tree; those that do not strive to grow become empty husks." As the saying goes, those who educate others must first educate themselves. Testing technology advances rapidly, and to keep pace with engineering technology, Li Jing always seizes every opportunity to learn more and hone her skills. Besides self-study, she greatly values every chance to study elsewhere, requiring herself to gain something from each session and recording her insights into the company's training materials for testing personnel to share with everyone. In order to fully master the Branch's more than 300 testing items, she has personally operated all of the company's hundreds of pieces of equipment. As a result, when equipment breaks down, people always like to ask her to repair it, and she always spots problems others miss and finds ways to solve them.

　　Serving the Site and Safeguarding Project Quality

　　More than 10 years of grassroots experience have taught Li Jing that engineering testing is a job with great responsibility, many details, and a tendency to offend people. As a testing professional, she is responsible internally for serving projects and supervising and monitoring project quality, and externally for answering to supervisors and owners—making the work very difficult. Beyond strong professional ability, it also requires a high level of coordination and management skill.

　　To better solve on-site problems and share the burden of leaders and project departments, she spends more than half of the year traveling among the laboratories of various project departments. Although she is a woman, she is never delicate at work and never lets that relax her standards. To ensure testing quality, she has climbed rebar cages, scaffolding, and waist beams many times. Wherever construction workers and technicians can go, she insists on going too. On site, whatever male colleagues can do, she does as well. Leaders praise her as a capable assistant, and colleagues at site laboratories praise her as a good cadre who goes deep into the front line and is diligent and pragmatic.

　　A Role Model and a Good Mentor and Friend to Trainees

　　When it comes to Li Jing, young testing staff at the grassroots all give a thumbs-up: "Chief Li is not only our teacher but also like a big sister. We both want to work under her and are afraid to work under her." This seemingly contradictory remark captures both Li Jing's rigor and seriousness and her selfless care for her apprentices. She trains and selects talent by identifying promising candidates, setting goals, assigning responsibilities, leading projects, and teaching and mentoring personally. To her apprentices, she always imparts knowledge without reservation. Through her training, many testing staff have become outstanding members of the Branch's testing profession. Since 2005, more than 20 young people have successively taken up posts as heads of site laboratories and key technical backbones.

　　Through all this growth and dedication, the company has given her many honors and much recognition, but the hardship and exhaustion involved are easy to imagine. Yet she never becomes complacent over flowers and applause, nor discouraged by setbacks and failures. As the song goes: "All that is beautiful is but yesterday's intoxication; a faint bitterness is today's taste. Think of tomorrow, with sun and wind again; no matter how hard or tiring, fear nothing. Rainbow after storm, steel rose; no matter how much sorrow, no matter how much pain, bear it yourself; rainbow after storm, steel rose, traverse the four seas, smile proudly at the world's edge, never retreat..."