China HSR News And Information: Original Translation

[AndrewJin]

It was getting more cloudy, I was a little frustrated cause it meant I would hike in mist the next day in Enshi Grand Canyon.

A midway station before Enshi City, Jianshi County of Enshi Prefecture.

 

[AndrewJin]

My hope broke...Too cloudy to walk in the mountains
Arrived at Enshi Railway Station, Enshi City of Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture.
At least 2-3 hundred passengers on and off, at the biggest station between Yichang City and Chongqing Municipality

Another came from Chongqing direction, this is CRH1B, manufactured by Sifang(CSR)-Bambardier. Very uncomfortable, perhaps the most uncomfortable type of bullet trains. They should really stop sending this sort of outdated trains to railway bureaus in Central China and Western China, especially on mountainous routes(
pressure tightness is low so that people will feel tinnitus through tunnels, it's much better in other types)

But most passengers don't know which type, so many passengers aboard this CRH1B for Yichang and Wuhan.

My train left Enshi on time(terminal station is Lichuan City of Enshi Prefecture). It was supposed to stop for 4 minutes, but it arrived five minutes earlier.
Trains generally operate at maximum 160kph, there is plenty of speed margin actually.

I am always the last person leaving for the exit, all the time.

This location was once huge mountains, perhaps the most uninhabitable region in Hubei.
I think the time for locals finally comes after these transportation projects.

The facade of Enshi Railway Station, Tujia-style.

On the station square, there are public buses to the downtown and also long-distance coaches to difference counties of Enshi Prefecture. More railway lines will link counties of Enshi to nearby economical centres in the 13th 5-year plan, I'd love to see no coaches on the square any more in the future.

 

[cirr]

From now on, the most exciting part came. Yichang-Enshi section of this railway, the most expensive railway per kilometre so far in China. People here had anticipated this railway for a century. When experts began to plan this railway in 1910s, 1950s and 1990s, technological limitation made it impossible even after building the epic Chengdu-Kunming Railway which is one of the most complicated railway projects in 20th century.

Quotes from Wikipedia
The 377 km (234 mi) long[4] railway crosses the remarkably difficult terrain of southwestern Hubei (Yichang City and Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture) and the eastern part of the Chongqing Municipality (Wanzhou District). The region has numerous mountains and is sometimes referred to as "the eastern edge" of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.[5][6] Until recently, the region had no railways, and hardly any paved roads (beyond China National Highway 318, which the new railway more or less parallels).[7] The new (G42 Hurong Expressway) is being built along the same corridor as well (see Si Du River Bridge for an example of engineering that was required).

Out of the entire length of the rail line, 324 km (201 mi) are in Hubei and 53 km (33 mi) in Chongqing Municipality.[4] Owing to the difficult terrain, the project involves a large number of bridges (including two over the Yangtze River: the Wanzhou Railway Bridgeand the Yichang Railway Bridge) and tunnels. Out of the line's total 377 km (234 mi) length, 288 km (179 mi) runs on bridges or in tunnels. This made the line the most difficult and the most expensive (per kilometre) of all China's railways to date. At a cost of U.S. $9.01 million per kilometre, the per-kilometre construction costs were twice as high as those for the Qinghai–Tibet Railway which cost U.S. $4.35 million per kilometre.

The railway was first proposed by Sun Yat-sen in 1903, but construction was not started until 2003 due to the difficulties of the project.[10] According to the chief engineer, Zhang Mei, the line was the most difficult ever constructed in China.[10]

End of quotes, Let's start and hope you enjoy these photos!
@powastick @ahojunk @Azizam @Rasengan @Götterdämmerung @Shotgunner51 @TaiShang @Chinese-Dragon @Keel @cirr @Edison Chen @Luca1 et al

The whole journey of Yichang-Enshi section is accompanied by national expressway G50(Shanghai-Chongqing Expressway), also one of the most difficult ever constructed expressway in China.
View attachment 224354
View attachment 224361

A typical Tujia village
View attachment 224353

A random valley, too many traveling sources await exploitation. Locals here rights to become rich. Environmentalists, pls give them room.
@Azizam I sincerely hope they do.
View attachment 224355

G50 expressway like a belt of mountains
View attachment 224358

Enshi Prefecture is famous for Karst landform.
I would visit a grand canyon in Enshi and later a huge karst cave on way back from Chongqing.
View attachment 224360
View attachment 224356

Thanks for the pics and narratives。

My mother and 23 of her friends spent 5 days in Enshi about 2 weeks back。Stunning views and thrilling experiences。Was absolutely overwhelmed by the beauty and ruggedness of Enshi。

The old lady took an HSR G-train from Beijing South to Shanghai Hongqiao where she joined her friends the next day for a 10-hour ride onboard an HSR D-train to Enshi。I think the fare for return tickets was 820 yuan。

 

[AndrewJin]

Inside the city public bus to the downtown 5 km away.
2yuan fare I think it is a little high, 2yuan is OK in Wuhan and Yichang. I don't know the discounts of using city transport card, but 1 yuan is better.

Second hand bullet trains, less transportation subsidiary, they really need to learn from people of Linshui, having a bloody demonstration for better transportation.

Fengyu Bridge, a symbol of Enshi City
(Wind Rain Bridge)

Qing River, a tributary of Yangtze River originates from Enshi.

A walking lane by the river

A city square, locals were playing mahjong! Maybe cause Enshi is too closed from Chongqing and Sichuan.

Yes, this is Enshi, not a single place flat enough for a straight road.

 

[AndrewJin]

This was where I had my first dinner in Enshi, a sort of tofu in spicy red oil.
A piece of cake for me, I was born with having spicy food.

What amazed me was there is WIFI in such a small restaurant in such a remote place.
I didn't expect that here, but it turned out I was totally wrong, there is also free 4G-WIFI in the bus!

End of part one of my Enshi-Chongqing trip.
Hope you enjoy it so far.

My mother and 23 of her friends spent 5 days in Enshi about 2 weeks back。Stunning views and thrilling experiences。Was absolutely overwhelmed by the beauty and ruggedness of Enshi。

Really glad you like it, next part will be the scenery, and then amazing Chongqing!
And very thankful for your contribution to our local economy. This is one of the benefit of railway, bringing in more people and more money. And now, Enshi is famous mostly within the province and in nearby regions like Chongqing. I think the scenery in Enshi is even better than in Zhangjiajie, and now we have better transportation, what we need do now is to have better infrastructure, like scenery roads, more hotels and family guesthouses, making Enshi famous across the country and even for foreigners.

The old lady took an HSR G-train from Beijing South to Shanghai Hongqiao where she joined her friends the next day for a 10-hour ride onboard an HSR D-train to Enshi。I think the fare for return tickets was 820 yuan。

Yes, it is nearly 2000km from Shanghai to Enshi, 4 D-trains daily around 10 hours (410yuan for second class, 491 yuan for the first). I think more people will come if the second Shanghai-Wuhan-Chengdu HSR(full 350kph) is built in the coming years. Frankly speaking, this line is outdated once finished. We already have experiences about how to build 10-km-long tunnels in karst mountains, and 300 metre-high bridges over the mighty valleys. Time is limited, we cannot waste our best chances of 13th 5-year plan.

 

[cirr]

@AndrewJin - I thought the following nuggets of "news" regarding HSR developments might have you greated excited:

今年大西高铁原平太原段将试验350km/h有渣轨道技术和无渣轨道超高垫片可行性，明年郑徐高铁砀山段（还不知道多长一段）试验500km/h高铁技术，2018年京沈客专黑山县一百多公里已设定为试验线路，将进行半年的高铁新技术试验.

 

[AndrewJin]

@AndrewJin - I thought the following nuggets of "news" regarding HSR developments might have you greated excited:

今年大西高铁原平太原段将试验350km/h有渣轨道技术和无渣轨道超高垫片可行性，明年郑徐高铁砀山段（还不知道多长一段）试验500km/h高铁技术，2018年京沈客专黑山县一百多公里已设定为试验线路，将进行半年的高铁新技术试验.

Thrilling news! So CIT500 is useful in the future? 500kph! We should use this in the new Beijing-Guangzhou HSR, image 4-5 hours by train from Beijing to Guangzhou 2000km away!

 

[Bussard Ramjet]

Thrilling news! So CIT500 is useful in the future? 500kph! We should use this in the new Beijing-Guangzhou HSR, image 4-5 hours by train from Beijing to Guangzhou 2000km away!
View attachment 224401

Can you tell in brief what is written in Chinese?

 

[Tresbon]

a website for you, hope you like it and find it useful.
China 2015 Bridge Trip - HighestBridges.com

 

[Bussard Ramjet]

@AndrewJin - I thought the following nuggets of "news" regarding HSR developments might have you greated excited:

今年大西高铁原平太原段将试验350km/h有渣轨道技术和无渣轨道超高垫片可行性，明年郑徐高铁砀山段（还不知道多长一段）试验500km/h高铁技术，2018年京沈客专黑山县一百多公里已设定为试验线路，将进行半年的高铁新技术试验.

Can you give a brief overview?

 

[Azizam]

From now on, the most exciting part came. Yichang-Enshi section of this railway, the most expensive railway per kilometre so far in China. People here had anticipated this railway for a century. When experts began to plan this railway in 1910s, 1950s and 1990s, technological limitation made it impossible even after building the epic Chengdu-Kunming Railway which is one of the most complicated railway projects in 20th century.

Quotes from Wikipedia
The 377 km (234 mi) long[4] railway crosses the remarkably difficult terrain of southwestern Hubei (Yichang City and Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture) and the eastern part of the Chongqing Municipality (Wanzhou District). The region has numerous mountains and is sometimes referred to as "the eastern edge" of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.[5][6] Until recently, the region had no railways, and hardly any paved roads (beyond China National Highway 318, which the new railway more or less parallels).[7] The new (G42 Hurong Expressway) is being built along the same corridor as well (see Si Du River Bridge for an example of engineering that was required).

Out of the entire length of the rail line, 324 km (201 mi) are in Hubei and 53 km (33 mi) in Chongqing Municipality.[4] Owing to the difficult terrain, the project involves a large number of bridges (including two over the Yangtze River: the Wanzhou Railway Bridgeand the Yichang Railway Bridge) and tunnels. Out of the line's total 377 km (234 mi) length, 288 km (179 mi) runs on bridges or in tunnels. This made the line the most difficult and the most expensive (per kilometre) of all China's railways to date. At a cost of U.S. $9.01 million per kilometre, the per-kilometre construction costs were twice as high as those for the Qinghai–Tibet Railway which cost U.S. $4.35 million per kilometre.

The railway was first proposed by Sun Yat-sen in 1903, but construction was not started until 2003 due to the difficulties of the project.[10] According to the chief engineer, Zhang Mei, the line was the most difficult ever constructed in China.[10]

End of quotes, Let's start and hope you enjoy these photos!
@powastick @ahojunk @Azizam @Rasengan @Götterdämmerung @Shotgunner51 @TaiShang @Chinese-Dragon @Keel @cirr @Edison Chen @Luca1 @Nihonjin1051 @Gufi @Georgeclark @Rajaraja Chola @cnleio et al

The whole journey of Yichang-Enshi section is accompanied by national expressway G50(Shanghai-Chongqing Expressway), also one of the most difficult ever constructed expressway in China.
View attachment 224354
View attachment 224361

A typical Tujia village
View attachment 224353

A random valley, too many traveling sources await exploitation. Locals here rights to become rich. Environmentalists, pls give them room.
@Azizam I sincerely hope they do.
View attachment 224355

G50 expressway like a belt of mountains
View attachment 224358

Enshi Prefecture is famous for Karst landform.
I would visit a grand canyon in Enshi and later a huge karst cave on way back from Chongqing.
View attachment 224360
View attachment 224356

Perfect pictures. Looking forward for more. Cold mountainous terrain is my favourite. I wish one day I can take a trip across China in HSR. My girlfriend has already been in Beijing-Shanghai HSR.

Although not an HSR line, are you planning to take Qinghai-Tibet railway too?

 

[AndrewJin]

I love the added features of providing a service which caters in delivering box meals, snacks and fruits when traveling on a long journey on a train.

Do you know there is always a dining car in traditional trains where you can order dishes, not pre-cooked boxed meals? I seldom buy stuff sold in bullet trains, I always bring food from home or buy some in the railway stations.

In trains for Northwestern China, only muslin food is cooked.

The most compelling aspect of that picture is the women stewardess helping a customer in a safe secure environment. There are many countries in Asia, where such form of liberation does not clearly exists as sexual harassment becomes the general norm.

HSR attendants are very popular jobs now, stable and reasonably paid.

the first Uyghur attendant on Lanzhou-Xinjiang HSR

Chunghwa

You mean Zhonghua as in Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo? (People's Republic of China) or Zhonghua Minguo( Republic of China)?

Pakistan is very similar to China, in the sense that each region has its own distinct flavor. For example Punjabi food is renowned across the world in containing dishes which are very rich in flavor and extremely spicy. This was one of the main reasons why I can easily handle Sichuanese cuisines, where as my Cantonese Hong Kong friend was crying like a baby and running to the bath room I still remember, like it was yesterday how he became disorientated with one cup of Maotai The Northern areas of Pakistan, has some dishes very similar to Uighur Muslims, especially that barbecue stick, however there spice is normally mild and they don't consider chicken as meat, because a man should eat lamb You would definitely love Pakistani cuisine. The first picture is a dish called Nihari and this takes more than 14 hours to cook. Second dish is called Sajji from the Province of Baluchistan and the meat is so awesome because its tended and soft due to a long period of cooking over a open fire. Third dish is called Lamb Karahi and is very spicy.

I got to try!!! I love muslin food. If I travel to Beijing, I will try.(find one in Beijing searching a food APP, rated by 5 stars, top one, and only 50-60 per person. One Indian restaurant in Wuhan is rated 3 stars, I won't try although all the cooks are from India)

For example my friend ordered a dish called bird nest soup and he urged me to try it before asking him to verify what the actual dish was. Surprising it was delicious and I had a shock on what it actually was I love the idea of eating a simple breakfast, full of flavour which only cost 4 yuan.

Cantonese, no offence to them, really eat something weird.

Only they have the intellectual property rights of claiming to be Supa Powans

They only claim Supa Powa. Supa Powan(s) is a new word, my creation, I should sell it to them.

Smaller cities should have there fair share of opportunities in gaining access to these routes, because there would be an equal proportion of development across the sector and local grievances would be answered.

Definitely, that's why I love HSR, airplanes are only convenient for people from big cities. But Beijing-Shanghai HSR has stops every 50km. Intercity HSR in Wuhan city agglomeration stops every 5-10km.

 

[empirefighter]

Can you give a brief overview?

Next year,500km/h HSR will be tested in some part of zheng-xu railway，In 2018,this technology will be used in some part of beijing-Shen railway about 100 km long and be tested for half of year.

 

[Bussard Ramjet]

Next year,500km/h HSR will be tested in some part of zheng-xu railway，In 2018,this technology will be used in some part of beijing-Shen railway about 100 km long and be tested for half of year.

Is it rolling stock? Or magnetic levitation?
Does this train need special tracks, or will the current ones do?

 

[Rasengan]

I was quite embarrassed years ago and still a little embarrassed today when I take my friends to Wuhan by train. Railway tracks in Wuhan were mostly lined by slums after slums. Now, redevelopment projects are everywhere and "slum dwellers" are moving to better apartments in better regions. And it calls for at least a decade to totally change them.@@Rasengan Come here in another five years I will be more confident.
Chinese styles of "slums" along railways

Brother Jin, the greatest asset in which China has an abundance supply of in comparison to other nations is its citizens hospitality, generosity and loyalty to foreigners who treat and respect the beauty of China. The landscape of China is amazing irrespective of slums, because since the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution things have progressed rather rapidly demonstrating how far China has come forward from a chaotic period. Those foreign individuals who visit your city and sneer down on slums in a condescending manner, should take a return ticket back to there country.