XI’AN, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) — A glossy silver bullet prepare departed Yan’an in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province on Friday, linking the sacred revolutionary heartland to the nation’s quickly increasing high-speed rail community.
The newly opened 299-km line connects Yan’an with Xi’an, the provincial capital and residential to the famed Terracotta Warriors, slashing journey time between the 2 cities from about 2.5 hours to roughly one hour.
Yan’an, perched on the loess hills of northern Shaanxi, gained worldwide consideration by means of American journalist Edgar Snow’s 1937 traditional “Red Star Over China,” which depicted the area as considered one of China’s poorest areas but additionally as a beacon of hope, with the Communist Party of China (CPC) main the nation towards independence and liberation.
During the Long March (1934-1936), Mao Zedong and his comrades reached Yan’an, the place they established the CPC headquarters and lived and labored for 13 years. This was the place the place they led the Chinese People’s War of Resistance towards Japanese Aggression and the place the War of Liberation commenced towards the reactionary Kuomintang regime, earlier than the People’s Republic of China was based in 1949.
“Yan’an is of great significance as it symbolizes the turning point of the Chinese revolution led by the CPC, and is the cradle of the great Yan’an Spirit,” stated He Lei, a professor on the China Executive Leadership Academy, Yan’an.
As a strategic stronghold in northwest China, Yan’an opened an airport almost 90 years in the past. However, resulting from troublesome geological circumstances on the Loess Plateau and different components, it was not till 1992 that the primary typical railway connecting it to Xi’an was opened.
The arrival of high-speed rail in Yan’an comes 17 years after China opened its first high-speed railway line between Beijing and Tianjin in 2008, when the Olympics have been held within the Chinese capital.
Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, Yan’an has emerged as each a non secular landmark for the Party’s continued “self-revolution” and a logo of profitable poverty alleviation. New museums, Party training institutes, and upgraded infrastructure have drawn elevated nationwide consideration. A go to by the newly elected high management days after the twentieth CPC National Congress concluded in 2022 has additional raised town’s profile.
“The Yan’an Spirit of maintaining the correct political direction, seeking truth from facts, serving the people wholeheartedly, and being diligent and enterprising will continue to lead the country to overcome difficulties and forge ahead bravely, and basically achieve modernization by 2035,” He stated.
Yan’an has grow to be a vacation spot for an growing variety of vacationers looking for historic and up to date inspiration. It is famend for exporting superb ideas, in addition to plentiful items and sources — from apples and intangible cultural heritage craftsmanship to mineral merchandise. The metropolis’s GDP grew by 5.5 p.c in 2024, outpacing the nationwide common stage.
The high-speed rail venture began in 2021. Designed for operations of as much as 350 km per hour, the road marked the quickest prepare working on the Loess Plateau.
More than half of the brand new route crosses smooth, water-sensitive loess, presenting world-class engineering challenges in controlling floor settlement and making certain structural stability.
The route is basically elevated or underground, with 91 p.c working on bridges or by means of tunnels. Its 47 tunnels span over 169 km, greater than thrice the size of the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France.
The opening of this line has introduced China’s high-speed rail mileage to over 50,000 km, exceeding the whole of all different nations mixed.