The small town of Ebao, with a population of three thousand, if it were not for the fact that it is located at the northern gate of Qinghai, it is estimated that it would be like many small towns in the depths of Qilian, with no name.
As the traffic throat of Qinghai and Gansu, National Highway 227 (Ningzhang Highway) and Provincial Highway 304 (Eqi Highway) meet here, with an average of more than 5,000 vehicles passing through every day, coupled with the increase in tourism on the Northwest Grand Ring Road in recent years, the traffic pressure is really not small.
In Qinghai' famous town of Ebao. Photo by Jia Fengfeng
All of this is the responsibility of the Qilian County Traffic Police Brigade Ebao Squadron.
Say it is a squadron, but in fact there are only four traffic policemen. Although there are few people, they are in charge of the national highways, provincial roads, and township roads, a total of 288 kilometers of roads under their jurisdiction, and large and small things. Qinghai is sparsely populated, with few personnel and many tasks, which is the norm.
Song Weisheng, 47 years old this year, is the oldest big brother in the squadron. In 2013, Song Weisheng was transferred to the Ebao Squadron, although he had heard about it earlier, but the reality still made him spend a lot of effort to do a good job in psychological construction. "The local altitude is high, and many sections of the road are on the shady side of the mountain, and when it is rainy and snowy, it will be blocked, and there was no office space at that time, so everyone worked and rested in the tent."
The Jingyang Ridge Pass under the jurisdiction of the Ebao Squadron is often on the news whenever it rains or snows. Courtesy of Wang Juantang
For travelers, Ebao means passing by, but for the traffic police here, it is a long-term perseverance and day-to-day patrol.
On the afternoon of October 5, 2019, the clouds were densely spread over Ebao, and years of experience told Song Weisheng that it was estimated that some were busy. With shovels and cone barrels and cotton pants on, Song Weisheng and his colleagues rushed straight to the Jingyang Ridge Pass at an altitude of 3,767 meters — a more serious situation than expected, a high-altitude, large-drop mountain pass that had begun to accumulate snow and ice, and vehicles going up in both directions had slipped and could not move forward. Soon, the convoy was so congested that it was impossible to see the head, and the traffic flow was motionless. Not long after walking, the police car was also blocked, there was no way, Song Weisheng and his colleagues could only abandon the car and walk forward. After walking for almost an hour, I finally reached the key blockage where the pass was located.
Divert traffic overnight. Courtesy of Wang Juantang
Emergency evacuation, snow removal, snow chains, carts with passengers... From the previous evening, it was busy until more than 5 a.m. the next day, and the traffic slowly moved. At this time, Song Weisheng and his colleagues were so tired that they didn't even have the strength to speak, and their eyebrows were covered with ice.
But that night, it was also very warm. Many drivers brought them food, and some also took the initiative to bring cotton clothes, and in the snow and wind, the trumpet of the cart rose and fell, stirring everyone's voice. The 33-year-old Wang Juantang, from Wuwei, Gansu Province, was also his first "hard battle" after coming to Ebao Squadron, and looking back now, he quipped that it was also the first "highlight moment" of my career.
Since January, there has not been much snowfall, and Wang Jiatang can rarely sit in the squadron for a shift. Photo by Jia Fengfeng
When highlight moments are too frequent, it becomes a normal life. As long as the snow falls, JingyangLing, Ebaoling, Andukou Gorge will basically be stuck in traffic, just last December, there were four large and small blockages, they are not in the police, or on the way out of the police, "the road is life."
Because they don't know when they can deal with the accident, cotton clothes and cotton pants and instant noodles have become the "standard" before each departure. This is indeed very troublesome for Song Weisheng, who suffers from diabetes, eating irregularly, sleeping irregularly, looking at the slightly emaciated him in front of him, it is difficult to imagine that he was also a strong man of more than 200 pounds before. "But we all have a common disease now, that is, no matter where we go, once we encounter traffic jams, we can't help but want to get out of the car to see, even if it is not within the scope of our own jurisdiction, we also want to command and unblock..." Song Weisheng laughed.
Divert traffic. Courtesy of Wang Juantang
Of course, there are times when they are not understood. For example, when tourists are discouraged from parking their vehicles indiscriminately, some people will say, "Why are others okay when they park?" Can't I stop here? Some will say, "The first time I came, I knew where to stop and where not to stop." Song Weisheng said, "Opening a smooth road is everyone's hope, when they feel casual and comfortable, it may bring inconvenience to others, so I hope that everyone can weigh more about others and understand our work." ”
Living together and working together, several of the old men of the Ebao Squadron spent far more time together than their respective families, taking care of each other when they were sick, returning late to have someone to eat, and accompanying them to relieve boredom when they were bored... Fluent in the Qinghai dialect, Wang Xuetang has long regarded this place as home.
Recently, there has been no snowfall around the town of Ebao. When it was time for dinner, everyone could rarely get together, and the dumplings wrapped in the back kitchen were warmly illuminated into the canteen in the winter sun, and also shone on the distant mountains of Qilian. On the national highway, a car drove steadily into the distance...
【Source: People's Daily client Qinghai Channel】