This is a giant steel dragon that stretches across the roof of the world.
With a total length of 1,956 kilometers, passing through 550 kilometers of permafrost areas, and crossing the Tanggula Pass at an altitude of 5,072 meters, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, a miracle of human engineering, was fully opened to traffic on July 1, 2006.
In the past 20 years, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway has transported a total of 104 million passengers. The accessibility of the Sky Road not only brings convenience for materials and tourists to enter Tibet, but also profoundly reshapes the production and lifestyle of the people on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, connecting the plateau with the outside world.
Xining, Golmud, Tanggula, the altitude keeps rising. At the end of June, the reporter took a train on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway to experience the changes brought about by the 20-year-old railway.
Protecting the source of the Sanjiang River, this is a green ecological corridor
After passing the Kunlun Pass, the altitude remains above 4,000 meters. Brown and yellow have become the main colors. Looking at Yuzhu Peak and Yuxu Peak in the distance, they are covered with snow all year round.
Entering Hoh Xil, you can see Tibetan antelopes gathering across the railway bridge. It's migration season, and their destination is Zhuonai Lake hundreds of kilometers away.
Eagles and falcons are circling, and hidden wild ass and wild yaks appear in herds. The animals are not afraid of people or avoid cars. Harmonious coexistence of man and nature - Over the years, China Railway Qinghai-Tibet Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Qinghai-Tibet Group Company") has set up 33 wildlife passages to ensure animal migration and reproduction.
From a sharp decline in numbers to more than 70,000 today, Tibetan antelopes are the epitome of ecological restoration along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.
The train passes through the Chumar River, and the braided water system is spectacular. As one of the sources of the Yangtze River, the Chumar River has experienced long-term seasonal dry flow in the past. In order to protect "one river with clean water flowing eastward", with the joint efforts of the Sanjiangyuan National Park and the local government, the diversity, stability, and sustainability of the Sanjiangyuan ecosystem have been improved as a whole, and the vegetation coverage in the black soil beach management area has increased from less than 20% to more than 80%. In the past five years, water conservation in the Sanjiangyuan National Park has increased by more than 6% annually, and the water quality of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers leaving Qinghai Province has stabilized above Class II.
At the Suonandajie Protection Station of the Hohexil Management Office, more than 300 kilometers away from Tanggula Pass, the ranger Jiang Wenduojie is very familiar with the animals, hills and water systems of Hohxil. He stayed in Hoh Xil for 12 years and experienced the test of life and death. Once while rescuing a mountain ranger, he himself was trapped in a swamp and could only rely on drinking water and eating instant noodles and seasoning packets to satisfy his hunger.
"We are the sons and daughters of the grassland, and we have the responsibility to protect the grassland." Cai Dan, deputy director of the Qumalai Ecological Protection Station in the Yangtze River Source Park of Sanjiangyuan National Park, has been guarding here for 21 years. "We take ecological protection in our hearts and put it into action, and our hard work pays off."
Over the past 20 years, in the face of the fragile ecological environment of the plateau, the Qinghai-Tibet Group Corporation has followed the management idea of "resisting far away, intercepting in the middle, and solidifying nearby" to scientifically lay out high vertical sand barriers, grass grids and sleeper sand retaining walls along the railway line. It has also used various methods such as artificial on-demand psoma plants and cleaning up sand accumulation in the external transportation network to intercept windy sand layer by layer. The Qinghai-Tibet Group Corporation has completed a total of 1,002.469 kilometers of greening along the railway, accounting for 94.7% of the total mileage that can be greened. It has planted 3.5387 million trees, shrubs and other vegetation. Along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway alone, the greening area reaches 7.98 million square meters, basically eliminating the hidden danger of wind and sand.
Integrating people's hearts is a bond of national unity
Plateau train, all the way south.
The Qinghai-Tibet Railway helps people in pastoral areas travel conveniently. The Yangtze River Source Village in Golmud, Qinghai Province is a relocated village. It was moved here from the source of the Yangtze River more than 20 years ago. There are 229 ecological managers in the village.
At the end of 2024, the whistle sounded, and the Z8982 passenger train from Lhasa, Tibet to Xining, Qinghai, slowly stopped at Bufrogquan Station.
28-year-old Luosang Gyacuo goes to the ice-free spring to patrol once a month, for about a week each time. "In the past, to go to the Freezing Spring, several people had to 'share a car' and travel more than 100 kilometers." Rosang Gyatso said, "Now you can go by train, and patrolling is much more convenient!"
“Before, Bufrogquan Station was an unmanned station and did not handle passenger boarding and alighting services.” Zhang Runqi, deputy director of the Golmud Railway Station of the Qinghai-Tibet Group Corporation, introduced that in order to solve the travel problems of ordinary people and support the economic and social development along the line, the railway department renovated the Bufrogquan Station and arranged for trains to handle passenger boarding and landing services at Bufrogquan Station to facilitate travel.
The railway tracks are winding, opening up the road to study and integration. In 2006, a reporter photographed a herdsman from Damxung County in Lhasa, Pema Lhamo, and his young daughter Nyima Lhamo watching a train, which moved many people. In 2022, Nirmaram was admitted to a university in Huai'an, Jiangsu. During the winter and summer vacations during her studies, trains became her link between the snowy areas and Jianghuai. After graduating in 2025, she returned to Damxung County People's Hospital to work as a medical guide, using what she learned to serve people of all ethnic groups on the plateau.
A railway opens up the outside world. Four years ago, Duoguo, a 12-year-old Tibetan boy from Qumalai County, Qinghai Province, and his teammates embarked on their first long journey to compete. They set off from Xining and took the Qinghai-Tibet Railway eastward to Suzhou, Jiangsu to participate in the youth football finals.
On the train, the Han flight attendants took the initiative to help the children store their footballs and protective gear. Passengers of all ethnic groups sat around and listened to the teenagers talk about life in the plateau pastoral areas. Duoguo and his teammates took out hadas and gave them to the flight attendants and passengers sitting next to them who enthusiastically took care of them along the way. Teenagers of all ethnic groups shared snacks and exchanged football skills. Representative inheritors of Tibetan and Tu intangible cultural heritage in Qinghai demonstrated Thangka, Tu embroidery and other skills on the train. Tourists from all over the country shared postcards and stories of their hometowns, and everyone had a lively exchange of laughter and laughter.
There are ethnic unity service posts on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway trains, where passengers of all ethnic groups learn each other's language and share culture; the railway teams along the line are composed of multi-ethnic employees, helping each other and protecting the road together.
This heavenly road carries Tibetan young people to go out to study, and carries talents from all over the world to take root on the plateau to practice medicine and teach. People of all ethnic groups have deepened their understanding and enhanced their recognition through frequent exchanges.
Development along the line, this is a road to enrich people and prosper industry
Qinghai Hai Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture prospered due to the connection of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.
"This 'steel dragon' has opened up a strategic channel for the western region that traverses the north and south and connects the inside and outside. It also brings opportunities for Haixi Prefecture to deeply integrate into the new era of western development." Li Qingming, secretary of the Haixi Prefecture Party Committee, said that Haixi Prefecture has become a land hub connecting the four provinces of Qinghai, Tibet, Xinjiang and Gansu. In the past 20 years, the GDP of Haixi Prefecture has increased by 5.4 times, and the permanent population has increased by 12.2%.
When the train passed through Delingha City, the "Light Prism Tower" outside the station was particularly dazzling. This is the earliest solar thermal energy storage project built in Haixi Prefecture, and green electricity is continuously delivered to all parts of the country from here.
In the past, due to the high cost of long-distance transportation and limited transportation volume, it was inconvenient to transport products from Golmudcharhan Salt Lake. After the opening of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, a dedicated line from the factory area directly connected to the Salt Lake factory area. The railway transportation of salt lake products such as potash fertilizer and lithium carbonate accounted for 90%. Every year, millions of tons of potash fertilizer are transported along the rails to all parts of the country.
Not only that, Haixi Prefecture’s wolfberry, beef and mutton and other plateau organic agricultural and livestock products are also transported to major domestic markets through the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, opening up an export channel for green organic agricultural and livestock products.
Li Qingming introduced that relying on the advantages of railways, Haixi Prefecture promotes the construction of circular economy industrial systems such as salt lake chemicals and new energy, and various construction materials are continuously transported to the depths of Qaidam Gobi through the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.
From no one paying attention to becoming a hot traffic spot, the popularity of cultural tourism reflects the convenience of traffic.
Departing from Xining, we arrived at Wulan Station soon. Many tourists check into the "Mirror of the Sky" Chaka Salt Lake and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the plateau. Further along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, you can have a panoramic view of the sand islands and Fairy Bay on the east and north sides of Qinghai Lake.
Connecting cultural tourism resources such as Chaka Salt Lake, Qinghai Lake, and Qalhan Salt Lake, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway promotes Haixi Prefecture's cultural tourism industry from scratch. The local area has successively created 22 "top-class" scenic spots such as Emerald Lake, and the annual number of tourists received is more than 50 times the total population of Haixi Prefecture.
From the changes in a township, we can also see the economic boosting effect of railway opening.
Before the train enters Tibet, Tanggula Mountain Town is the last stop in Qinghai. The average altitude here is more than 4,700 meters, and the permanent population is about 2,000. Before the opening of the train, it was difficult to get into the city, see a doctor, or go to school. It often took several days to refer critically ill patients, and children had to travel hundreds of kilometers to go to school.
Now, it can be reached in half a day's drive in the past few days. The development model of "cooperative + herdsmen" has driven ecological breeding on the mountain and unified export sales down the mountain. As of the end of 2025, the sales volume of beef and mutton in Tanggula Mountain Town has increased by 3.2 times, and the per capita annual income of the people has climbed from 2,300 yuan 20 years ago to 38,600 yuan. In response to market demand, 62 herders transformed into ecological guides and new grassland experience businesses, becoming ecological guardians and cultural disseminators. "With the traffic congestion cleared, the impetus for development will rise." said Pema Dorje, secretary of the town party committee.
The train stopped steadily at Lhasa Station. The platform was bustling with people. Tibetan people holding hadas in their hands, tourists from other places carrying luggage, young people from the plateau returning to their hometowns for studies, and freight workers transporting supplies met here. Smiles came to their faces wrapped in the snowy breeze.
After twenty years of continuous development, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway has witnessed great changes. Traveling along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the reporter deeply felt that this steel artery that traverses the two provinces is not only a transportation line, but has become an ecological protection road, a road for national unity, and a road for enriching the people.
Source: People's Daily
Our reporter Gong Shijian Qiao Dong
