Hunan Daily all-media reporter Zhou Qian
In 1909, the Beijing-Zhang Railway was completed and opened to traffic, declaring that Chinese could not build its own railways and was now bankrupt; In 2019, the world's most advanced intelligent high-speed railway with a speed of 350 kilometers per hour, the Beijing-Zhangjiang high-speed railway, shines in the world. In 2022, this pair of "sister lines" facing each other in parallel bathed in the light of the Winter Olympics.
Catch a "slow train" and feel the feeling of "once upon a time" Ride on a "new high-speed rail" and see the light of "towards the future". A "trip" by one person, the reporter is more aware of the heavy power of the four words "a hundred years of Beijing and Zhang".
"Without the Beijing-Zhang Railway, the story behind it cannot be told"
At 7:46 on February 9, the K886 train taken by the reporter left Zhangjiakou Station. The section from Zhangjiakou to Shacheng also retains some memories of the original route of the distant Beijing-Zhangjiang Railway.
The slow train goes all the way forward, and it also makes people dream back to a hundred years ago.
"Instilled in department stores, returned by business travelers". As early as the distant Ming and Qing dynasties, Zhangjiakou was an important material distribution center in northern China and an important land commercial port for trade with Europe, and it was busy every day.
In 1905, in the face of the slaughter of the great powers, in order to grasp the main traffic route connecting North China and Northwest China, the poor and weak Qing government decided to build its own railway from Beijing to Zhangjiakou.
"Stealing means that the mainland is rich in things, and the work along the way must rely on outsiders and be ashamed." At that time, in the face of Westerners' false claim that "China's engineer who can repair the Beijing-Zhang Railway has not yet been born", Zhan Tianyou, who returned from the United States, was in danger of being ordered, and he issued a cry and formally declared war on the "impossible".
Time and space have flown for hundreds of years, and locomotives on the ancient tracks are still shuttling. Along the way, it is either lofty mountains or a piece of ice, the roadside is full of weeds, and dozens of tunnels and culverts have been experienced... On this road, although you can't personally feel the difficulty of Zhan Tianyou's "human" glyph design and the shock of using explosives to mine tunnels for the first time, the scenery you see in front of you is wordlessly telling the hardships of building the Beijing-Zhang Railway in those years.
Along the way, it passes through Xuanhua and Shacheng, and finally arrives at Beijing Railway Station, which lasts a total of 3 hours and 39 minutes, and at 11:25 a.m., the train enters Beijing Railway Station.
"Without the Beijing-Zhang Railway, the story behind it would be impossible to tell." The reporter suddenly remembered that on February 8, Li Guoxin, director of the Chahar Cultural Exhibition Hall in Zhangjiakou City, said so when he showed the special photo.
In the photo is his most precious treasure - the original design of the Beijing-Zhang Railway when it was built. In 2012, Li Guoxin photographed it for treasure, and many people had hoped to buy it at a high price and take it away from Zhangjiakou, but Li Guoxin refused - "This is the memory of Zhangjiakou, and it must always stay here!" This local man who grew up along the Beijing-Zhang Railway also collected a section of old railway tracks more than one meter long.
After the opening of the Beijing-Zhang Railway in 1909, this 200-kilometer railway became the first trunk railway designed and built by the Chinese. What the locals are even more proud of is that during the revolutionary period, Li Dazhao, He Mengxiong, Miao Boying and others came here one after another to actively establish party organizations, spread Marxism, ignite the revolutionary flame of the Chinese proletariat to overthrow the old system, and root the red blood here.
The Beijing-Zhang Railway, the "national spiritual road" carved out by the will of the Chinese people, just like the word "ren" written by Zhan Tianyou in the lofty mountains and mountains, has erected the image of Chinese in capital letters.
"If the Beijing-Zhang Railway is a 'gas road', then the Beijing-Zhang railway is a 'proud road'"
The K886 train on which the reporter took had a maximum speed of 120 kilometers per hour. Looking out the window, the Beijing-Zhang high-speed railway with a speed of up to 350 kilometers per hour on the opposite track whistles past.
"From the breakthrough of independent design and construction to the world's most advanced level, from a speed of 35 kilometers per hour to 350 kilometers, the Beijing-Zhang line has witnessed the development of China's railways and also witnessed the leap of China's comprehensive national strength." Looking back at the century-old history, I feel that the Beijing-Zhang high-speed railway is of great significance. On December 30, 2019, the Beijing-Zhangjiang high-speed railway was opened for operation, and Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, president of the country and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made important instructions.
This sonorous and powerful Chinese voice, Zhang Yongping still remembers it vividly. At the scene of the opening of the traffic, this "old Beijing-Zhangren" was very excited to witness the "centennial Beijing-Zhang" glowing with new vitality.
When he was 7 years old, he was guided by his teacher to visit the Beijing-Zhang Railway, and he was fascinated by the loud whistle sound and the sound of the train running, when he raised his hand and told the teacher, "I want to do the railway in the future."
From joining the work in 1972 to officially retiring in 2013, in the Beijing-Zhang Railway for many years, Zhang Yongping recalled that the past was not the era of family clocks, the whistle of the train, the rumble of the railway rail when the train passed, and even became the "work and rest guide" of many "railway people", and the speeding train strung together their ordinary life.
In the "slow era" of the green-skinned train, he once saw that the carriages were full of people, as well as countless paint buckets and cover rolls.
Integrated into the "fast era" of high-speed rail trains, Zhang Yongping is honored. In 2019, as the only social supervisor, he participated in the initial safety service management of high-speed rail stations and high-speed rail EMUs along the Beijing-Zhang high-speed railway.
The total distance is 174 kilometers, from Beijing North Railway Station, through the Juyongguan Great Wall, Shuiguan Great Wall, Badaling Great Wall, across the Guanting Reservoir, to Zhangjiakou. This national heavyweight, designed and built by the mainland, is the world's most advanced intelligent high-speed railway with a speed of 350 kilometers per hour. This intelligent high-speed rail also adopts the Beidou satellite navigation system for the first time, which can realize automatic departure from the station, automatic operation of the interval, accurate automatic benchmarking parking at the station, and automatic door opening protection.
"If the Beijing-Zhang Railway is a 'road to fight for gas', then the Beijing-Zhang high-speed railway is a 'proud road'Chinese! In Zhang Yongping's heart, from "old Jingzhang" to "new Jingzhang", continuous struggle and independent innovation have always been the unchangeable soul.
Next to the railway, the bronze statue of Zhan Tianyou on the great shore stands tall. After a hundred years, 4 meters below the apex of the "Ren" character line he designed in that year, the intersection of the new and old Beijing and Zhang changed the "Ren" character between heaven and earth to the "big" character. During the years of struggle, he laid a strong foundation for China's railways, and now it is bursting with increasing vitality and tension.
"Witnessing the glory of the Olympic Games and strengthening yourself in an all-round way is the enlightenment left by the century-old Jingzhang"
On February 3, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Torch Relay came to the Zhangjiakou Qiao East District Industrial Culture Theme Park. On the original tracks of the Beijing-Zhang Railway, the torchbearer stands on the imitation "Ruixue Yingchun" theme decorative body high-speed rail train, and completes the transmission as the train travels.
"The centenary Beijing-Zhang embrace of the Olympic Games is not only a tribute to this magnificent century-old years, but also a demonstration of the cultural spirit of the Beijing-Zhang Railway to the world." At the scene, Liu Dianli, secretary of the Park Management Office of the Traffic Bureau of Qiaodong District of Zhangjiakou City, was full of emotions.
The park, which opened in 2019, takes the original tracks of the Beijing-Zhang railway as the site texture and integrates the Olympic culture into the landscape planning, which is a typical example of Zhangjiakou exploring the transformation and development of the old industrial zone. Rusty railroad tracks, brown sleepers, and gravel bed outline the veins of industrial development here, recording the friendship between this ancient city and the centuries-old Jingzhang.
"Witnessing the glory of the Olympic Games and strengthening yourself in an all-round way is the enlightenment left by a hundred years of Jingzhang." We hope to do our best to keep the spark of the Beijing-Zhang Railway. According to Liu Dianli's recollection, in 2016, he led the team to go deep into various places along the Beijing-Zhang Railway, walking on the tracks, exploring the machine room, and patting while walking to find the imprint of the past. In the past two years, because he stored too many pictures, he changed 3 mobile phones.
A hundred years ago, the two cities of Beijing and Zhangjiakou were connected by railway; Today, the two cities have once again been linked by the Olympics. As an important basic project for the coordinated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and an important transportation support facility for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway will shorten the time from Beijing to Zhangjiakou from the past 3.5 hours to less than 1 hour, helping Zhangjiakou officially enter the "one-hour economic circle of the capital".
The "Ruixue Yingchun" intelligent revival high-speed EMU tailored for the Winter Olympics is shining in the world. It is the first time in the world that it has achieved live broadcasting of 5G ultra-high-definition events on a high-speed train with a speed of 350 kilometers per hour; Prince Edward Station became the world's first high-speed rail station with direct access to the Olympic Arena... A hundred years of Beijing and Zhang, carrying the glory of the country, once again witnessing history.
At 16:00 on February 9, the reporter got on the train from Beijing North Railway Station and took a high-speed train to Zhangjiakou at 17:00. Within a day, following the "slow train" to trace history, and then taking the "fast high-speed rail" to perceive the present, suddenly, the loud slogan of the Beijing Winter Olympics "Together to the Future" seems to have a new understanding in the hearts of reporters.
(Hunan Daily Zhangjiakou, February 9)
[Editor-in-charge: Zeng Xuan]
[Source: Hunan Daily· New Hunan Client]