Most complex railway project to take on Tibetan style

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, October 28, 2003

Most complex railway project to take on Tibetan style

Though built with advanced technology, the Liuwu Tunnel on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the most elevated in the world, does not look modern.

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Though built with advanced technology, the Liuwu Tunnel on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the most elevated in the world, does not look modern.

The outside wall of the tunnel near Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet autonomous region, is painted red and white, traditional colors used on Tibetan lamaseries and palaces, and decorated with traditional auspicious patterns.

Even the name of the tunnel was given by local Tibetans. Villagers in Liuwu township of Doilungdeqen county told the construction team that they wanted to name the tunnel after the township, and construction officials decided to drop the original name "Zao'erfeng."

Lu Chunfang, general director of the railway construction project, said the designers have been trying to make the 1,118-km rail route from Golmud in Qinghai province to Lhasa a showcase of Tibetan culture.

Typical symbols of Tibetan culture were taken into account in the design of the railway, said Liu Xingfu, a director in charge of rail bridge construction.

According to Liu, the six arch steel tubes of the bridge over the Lhasa River, which is opposite the imposing Potala Palace and expected to be a landmark both of the railway and the regional capital, are designed to resemble a flapping hada, or a long, white silk scarf symbolizing respect and blessings in Tibetan culture.

The structure of the approach bridges will take the shape of a blooming snow lotus, a plant on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

The constructions of the railway were not only designed in Tibetan style, they were also named in Tibetan, said Ran Li, chief engineer of a survey and design institute attached to the Ministry of Railways.

According to Ran, a special team was set up to solicit views and suggestions from local governments and Tibetologists on the naming of stations, bridges, tunnels and other major constructions of the railway.

"As far as I know, it is the first time that the naming has been taken so seriously in railway design and construction," said Ran.

After the railway is open to traffic, Ran said that stations inthe Tibet Autonomous Region will be branded with nameplates in both Tibetan and Chinese, while those in Haixi, an autonomous prefecture of ethnic Tibetans and Mongolians in Qinghai province, will have nameplates in Tibetan, Mongolian and Chinese.

The Chinese government launched the construction of the railway running through the cold Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, dubbed "the roof of the world," in 2001. Estimated to cost billions of US dollars, the railway, regarded as a complex project, is expected to greatly enhance economic and social development in the region.

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