Bravo China：High-Speed Rail Conquers the frozen North

From Hong Kong, you can take the high-speed rail to Beijing and transfer to Harbin, where you can go further north to the Xiaoxing'anling forest region, following the launch of the new Harbin-Yichun High-Speed rail line which takes only 2 hours. Yet, it is the world's first high-speed rail line crossing island permafrost.

Permafrost has long been a world-class challenge in railway construction. The soil freezes and expands in winter, then thaws and collapses in summer, easily twisting and breaking the tracks.

But the challenge in Northeast China is even greater due to the larger temperature swings, uneven soil, and different freezing points. Chinese engineers developed a Chinese solution: replacing shallow permafrost with stone and burying liquid ammonia thermosyphons in deep permafrost to keep it frozen.

Beyond permafrost, China has also tackled sandstorms, karst, faults, and other complex climate and geological conditions. China's high-speed rail operating mileage has exceeded 50,000 kilometers, over 70% of the world's total. China also exports equipment and construction expertise overseas, turning Chinese solutions into global standards.

Still, China's railways are for the people. Today, 81 pairs of public-service trains run through the remote mountainous areas, with frequent stops and low fares, helping residents reach markets and students reach school.

Chinese railway serves as an economic artery, connecting 1.4 billion people closely together.

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71% of Earth's surface is ocean, yet we have explored less than 5% of it. At ten thousand meters down, a manned deep-sea submersible must withstand pressure equal to 2,000 adult African elephants standing on one person's back.

Starting with the ‘Jiaolong’, China has independently developed manned deep-sea submersibles. In 2020, the ‘Fendouzhe’ successfully dove to nearly 11,000 meters —the deepest trench on Earth—equivalent to 23 ICC towers stacked up.

Chinese scientists have made many dives, bringing back samples of combustible ice, minerals, and hadal fauna—all vital to China's energy and resource security. Combustible ice, a natural gas hydrate formed under deep-sea pressure, offers vast reserves and a new option for future clean energy. In 2017, China set a world record in the South China Sea: 60 consecutive days of gas production from combustible ice. Young scientist Mengran Du found the deepest animal ecosystems on Earth and was named one of Nature’s 10 in 2025.

China is now building the world's first deep-sea space station. Once completed in 2030, scientists can stay long-term at a depth of 2,000 meters, conducting systematic research to support future combustible ice extraction in a more environmentally friendly way.

From outer space to the deep sea, China blazes a trail for sustainable development and charts a course for humanity's future.