The tracks, mostly bridges and tunnels, were regarded as a soaring steel dragon by residents along the railway, who are optimistic about selling more local agricultural and sideline products and confident of developing the tourism industry

The Yuxi-Mengzi Railway goes through the central Yunnan Plateau, with its mountains and canyons and some of the most intense areas of crustal tectonic movement. Started in September 2005, the new line took seven years to build, said Liu from the Kunming Railway Bureau "The same length of 141 km would only take two or three years in less rugged areas," he said.

Because of the special geographical conditions, Yuxi-Mengzi line builders were confronted with many challenges. More than half of the railway, 77 km, was built on bridges and tunnels. The Xiushan tunnel, 10,302 meters in length, is the longest railway tunnel in Yunnan province and runs through multiple faults and caves. It is famous for complex geological conditions and frequent changes in surrounding rock types.

The tunnel experienced at least 150,000 cubic meters of water leakage during construction every day. The volume increased to 230,000 cubic meters in the rainy season. "The tunnel builders had to endure suffocating humidity, hot days in summer and dust from the digging. Sometimes the collapse of sandstone and mudslides also threatened their lives," said Liu.

After seven years of hard work, they finally completed this Southern Yunnan "mountain road", marking an historic achievement.

Guo Huiming, head of the southern Yunnan railway construction project, was filled with emotion. "The completion of the railway was not easy," he remarked in a very understated fashion.

Guo said the engineering geology of the entire line was extremely complex, with many mountains and deep valleys. "We had poor construction conditions and the work was difficult. There were 173 intersections. The amount of stone ballast totaled 447,626 cubic meters. And there were the bridges and tunnels."

The Yuxi-Mengzi line, according to the former ministry of railways, was a high-risk project because it involved, among many geological challenges, karst high-pressure, water-rich complex geology, tectonic movements, rock-crushing, lots of groundwater in caves, flooding and sudden landslides.

Workers at the construction site of Xiushan tunnel, which has a total length of 10,302 meters and is the longest railway tunnel in Yunnan province. The Yuxi-Mengzi Railway is famous for the complex geological conditions and frequent changes in surrounding rock types that engineers encountered. [Photo/China Daily]

The former ministry will be incorporated into the Ministry of Transport according to the just concluded session of the National People's Congress.

The former ministry and Yunnan provincial government attached great importance to the railway. "They came to the construction site several times to conduct research and to organize meetings to study and deploy technical solutions during construction," Guo said. "So we ultimately completed the Yuxi-Mengzi line thanks to their support."

Economic circles

On the map of Yunnan, the Yuxi-Mengzi Railway directly connects Honghe with Kunming, along with the existing Kunming-Yuxi Railway. Those areas are rich in mineral, biological, cultural and tourism resources. The most immediate effect of the railway's operation is to further enhance Kunming-Yuxi rail transport capabilities. "More importantly, it runs through several cities in central and southern Yunnan so economic factors can flow into each other more smoothly," said Duan Gang, president of the Yunnan Institute of Economic Research.

According to Liu from the Kunming Railway Bureau, Yunnan will become a big economic center, of which cores will be the central Yunnan Industrial District, the Kunming-Yuxi green industrial economy and Kunming-Yuxi leisure tourism economy. There will be two wings - the four cities of Kunming, Qujing, Yuxi and Chuxiong, with Kunming at the center.

The central Yunnan economic circle will be the economic, political, cultural and transportation center. The area will function as the core driving force to promote the integration of the province's economic resources and factors of production, Duan said.

Efforts have been made to promote the construction of central Yunnan Industrial District, focusing on high-end vehicle and equipment manufacturing, electronic information, biology, new materials, textile appliances and a modern services industry cluster area, according to the provincial government.