A winding new railway, the Lijiang-Shangri-La Railway, connecting two well-known tourist cities in picturesque Yunnan Province, southwest China, opened on Sunday, according to China State Railway Group.

Departing from Shangri-La, in the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, at noon on Sunday, the first train reached Lijiang in 1.5 hours and arrived at the provincial capital Kunming in 4.5 hours.

The new line has a design speed of 140 kilometers per hour and a total length of 139 kilometers, cutting the fastest travel time between the two cities to one hour and 18 minutes.

As an important segment of the Yunnan-Xizang Railway, the new railway weaves through breathtaking natural landscapes, creating an enchanting fusion of man-made marvels and unspoiled beauty.

Mega project for regional development

With construction beginning in 2014, the mega project took about nine years and some 20,000 workers to build. A total of 34 new bridges and 20 new tunnels were built for the railway, covering more than 70 percent of a route that spans complicated terrain.

"The builders have overcome many technical problems and accumulated valuable experience for China's plateau railway construction," said Zhang Minyin, commander of the Western Yunnan Railway Construction Headquarters of China Railway Kunming Bureau Group Co.

The new railway will help improve transportation in ethnic minority areas, which will promote national unity, consolidate border stability and promote Yunnan's high-quality development, said China State Railway Group.

Zhang Yong, an official with the Lijiang Culture and Tourism Bureau, emphasized the potential synergy among well-known tourist destinations such as Dali, Lijiang and Diqing in Yunnan Province. Through convenient transportation, these famous tourism areas can leverage cultural tourism resources for mutual benefit and development. 

In the first nine months of 2023, Lijiang welcomed nearly 56.78 million visitors, marking a year-on-year surge of 26.09 percent. Diqing also attracted over 10 million tourists in the first half of the year.

The impact of the railway would extend beyond tourism as Shangri-La is rich in mineral resources and characteristic agricultural products. The railway is projected to facilitate the annual export of approximately 300,000 tonnes of copper and iron ore here, with agricultural products such as matsutake mushrooms streamlining their journey from the mountains to broader markets.

Sustainable infrastructure

With the goal of building a plateau railway project with green ecology and environmental protection standards, the China Railway Kunming Bureau Group Co., Ltd. has made every effort to ensure an eco-friendly project ever since the construction started, said Huo Erlun, secretary of the Party working committee of Lijiang-Shangri-La Railway Project Department of the China Railway 16th Bureau Group.

The entrance of the Haba Snow Mountain tunnel is located in the Tiger Leaping Gorge scenery spot and the Jinsha River water source protection area, said Huo, adding that in order to protect the environmental water source, a sewage treatment station was designed and put into use on the site.

"We used the treated wastewater as much as possible for the construction of the road, mixing stations and other areas to spray water and dust, strictly prohibiting the discharge of substandard wastewater," said Huo.  

A total of eight sewage treatment stations, over 40 sedimentation tanks, about 105,000 cubic meters of wall support and protection facilities, and 187,000 square meters of green planting have been constructed along the entire line in areas such as Wenbi Sea, Lashi Sea and Tiger Leaping Gorge, said Xu Huifeng, deputy commander of Lijiang-Shangri-La section of Yunnan-Xizang Railway.

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Train to heaven: New railway to Shangri-La, SW China to open to public

(CGTN reporter Yang Jinghao contributed to the story.)