Chapter 5 2. Large-scale engineering projects

There are many modes of transportation in China: air, private jet, highway, taxi, bus, tram, subway, traditional railway, high-speed rail, intercity high-speed rail, boat, ferry, etc. Although the number of personal and public transportation has become increasingly saturated, people's travel has become more and more convenient, and the modes of travel are also very diverse.They are used for a variety of trade and travel needs. In 2011, China had 3,300 kilometers of high-speed rail lines, plus 86,000 kilometers of traditional railway lines, and the total length of its railway network ranked first in the world! In 2009, the train passenger volume reached 1.5 billion passengers, and 3 billion tons of goods were transported by rail.

High-speed rail technology has made China full of horsepower, and a train running at a speed of more than 481 kilometers per hour runs on its long rails.Technical difficulties and technological achievements of other countries did not frighten China! Therefore, the world began to turn to China's railway market to find new opportunities here, and China has since created its own unique railway model. China, which ranks among the "first phalanx" of world powers, also wants to find a piece of "own sky" under the stimulation of its economic growth! Therefore, China decided to end the "face-to-face" situation between Boeing and Airbus. In addition to those orders for Western countries, China has currently developed new mid-range and long-distance passenger aircraft models.It even has future rivals ready for the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737, and will be manufactured in Shanghai.

The Weinan Viaduct across the Weihe River is 79 kilometers long.The Donghai Bridge connecting Shanghai and the Yangshan Islands is 32.5 kilometers long, of which 26 kilometers span the East China Sea.The world's largest deep-water port area - Yangshan Port Area, is located on these islands.The Wushaoling tunnel in northwestern China is more than 21 kilometers long. We cannot list them all, but take the Hangzhou Bay Bridge as an example. The world's largest sea-crossing bridge has a 36-kilometer suspended track and its majestic side stays. It is undoubtedly an architectural miracle.The bridge is 100 kilometers long and has six highways.The time from Shanghai to Ningbo has been reduced from six to eight hours to two and a half hours.Vehicles can use the bridge to go directly from this bank to the other bank, traveling between Shanghai and Ningbo.

Another project is to connect all provincial capital cities and suburban towns with a population of more than 200,000 to all parts of the country.Also, those remote and underdeveloped areas have not been forgotten!For example, the first expressway in Tibet was completed and opened to traffic in 2011. It is a four-lane expressway connecting Lhasa and Gonggar International Airport. To these new and daring achievements and projects, China's first expressway is nothing!Completed in 1993, it is 270 kilometers long and connects Beijing with Shijiazhuang, the capital of the industrial province of Hebei.

However, this comprehensive investment policy in road infrastructure has not eliminated the frequent traffic congestion in the city... The car's "appetite" for the road continues to grow.The proliferation of cars, China's car boom, and the evolution of Chinese parking lots speak for themselves!