Collaboration of the Week Shijiazhuang (zh:石家庄; literally, "The Stone Village") is about 170 miles (273 km) south of Beijing in Hebei Province. Shijiazhuang was once a small village until late 1920s, when it found itself at the junction of three major rail lines during the modern railway construction boom. Since then Shijiazhuang has opened a new chapter in its modern history, and has been developed rapidly into the modern capital city of Hebei Province.
Shijiazhuang is a young industrial city, and has relatively few attractions in the city area. However, there are several sites of historical and cultural interest in the surrounding area, including Mount Cangyan Scenic Area, best known for its picturesque postcard temples hanging on the steep hillsides (Several final scenes of the Oscar winning movie "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" were filmed around a pavilion on a bridge over a gorge here in Mount Cangyan); the Zhangshiyan Scenic Area, gorgeous mountain ranges with magnificent ridges and peaks, grand cliffs, beautiful springs and waterfalls; Longxing Temple, the "First Temple south of Beijing", Zhaozhou Bridge in Zhao County, a 1400 year-old stone bridge in the world history book. ( more Shijiazhuang...)
Touted as an engineering feat, and a chance to extend economic opportunity to a largely impoverished region, Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the highest railway in the world (5,072 m, or 16,640 feet above sea level at its highest point). The 710 miles long high-altitude railway connects Tibet with China’s nationwide railway grid. More than 3000 tourists are taking trains to reach Lhasa every day through this railway.
The highest point on the line is 5,072 meters above sea level. The railway covers 960-kilometers at an altitude of more than 4000 meters and over 550 kilometers within the "frozen earth" area.
Special designed pressurized cars and special train engines are used to keep passengers from suffering from altitude sickness, and to offset the effects of the high altitudes to the engine. Each passenger has an oxygen supply. Water in toilets is heated to prevent freezing. ( more ... )
Chengdu (成都) is located in the central Sichuan Province, and is the provincial capital. It's also one of the most important political, economic, education centers of Sichuan and also Southwest China.
