Text: | Print|

Young military drivers conquer the world's roof

2014-10-26 09:28 Xinhua Web Editor: Yao Lan
1

Before Huang Jing, 20, started training to be a military truck driver last year, he thought that driving the Sichuan-Tibet highway would be "no big deal".

"I was quite confident at the beginning, because I already had the driving skills, and I come from Guizhou Province which is similar terrain to that along the highway," Huang said. "But when I began hauling supplies along that highway, the further I went, the less confident I became. I just felt like that I couldn't drive anymore."

The highway which intimidated Huang was opened to traffic on Dec. 25, 1954. Together with Qinghai-Tibet Highway, they ended Tibet's reliance on men, horses and ropes to transport goods.

At an average elevation of 3,500 meters, the 3,176 kilometers of road cross 14 rivers and 21 mountains with average height of 4,000 meters. Over 80 percent of the highway runs along steep hills or cliffs. Considered something of a miracle in the history of road building, the highway is still one of the most dangerous roads in the world prone to countless landslide, flood and avalanches.

Drivers from the Sichuan-Tibet transportation division of the People's Liberation Army's Chengdu military area command shuttle between the two regions several times a year to transport necessities such as petrol to mountain-locked Tibet.

Huang Xiaoqiang, commander of the division, said new drivers are assigned to a dedicated transportation unit and can become fully qualified for the route after a minimum of five round trips on high elevation assignments along the route.

"The whole process usually takes at least a year," he said. This is Huang Jing's second year in the army and he is now about halfway there.

Huang is on his division's last assignment in Tibet this year which began on Oct. 14. It is his 12th trip and he longs to become a qualified tanker driver, though he is still cautious.

"I drove cars previously and didn't know trucks well. Driving a tanker is fairly dangerous, so it's better to get more experience," Huang said.

Yuan Zhongyi, 22, of the same battalion, realized his dream of "going solo" in the tanker earlier this month. Yuan chose to become a military truck driver because nearly all his friends were learning to drive.

Comments (0)
Most popular in 24h
  Archived Content
Media partners:

Copyright ©1999-2018 Chinanews.com. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.