Fast Train to Dujiangyan

The train to Dujiangyan waits at the station

One of China’s most ambitious infrastructure programs is the one to develop it’s high-speed rail network. Over the last ten years, China has gone from a country with practically no high-speed rail lines, to the country with the most such lines . By 2012, China is expected to have more miles of high-speed rail lines than the rest of the world put together, and plans are in place for a network of 31,000 miles by 2020.

I mention this because we – my wife, my sister, two friends and I - recently rode the country’s newest high-speed line which runs from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, to the historic city of Dujiangyan some 65 kilometers away . The rail line was built as part of the great reconstruction efforts following the Sichuan earthquake of May 12, 2008. Construction of the line began on November 4, 2008 and it was up and running a mere eighteen months later, commencing operations on May 12, 2010, the second anniversary of the Sichuan quake.

The train has proven to be enormously popular, requiring us to buy our tickets a day in advance. The good news is that the train was exceptionally comfortable, took just 30 minutes to reach our destination and the cost of a one-way ticket was only 15 yuan. That’s less than three US dollars. The other good news is that Dujiangyan is a delightful town to visit. It sits at the edge of the mountains, and there are a number of beautiful temples, pavilions and parklands in town and in the surrounding hills

The city developed 2,500 years ago when Li Bing created the world’s first irrigation canal. By erecting dikes and dredging the Min River during the dry season, he was able to build his canal. The canal was configured to divert 40 percent of the river’s flow away from the main channel thereby providing irrigation water for the farmlands and greatly reducing the danger of flooding downstream. The canal that Li created is still in use today. For his accomplishments Li has become a legendary figure in Chinese history.

The picturesque Min River flows through the center of Dujiangyan where it is lined with outdoor cafes. In front of each restaurant is a cage containing live chickens, rabbits and other animals awaiting their fate. After touring town for a bit, we decided to stop at one of the cafes for lunch. Almost immediately we were surrounded by vendors, some of whom were extraordinarily persistent. One young woman with a guitar strapped around her neck wanted to serenade us while we ate. Despite telling her no repeatedly, she continued to ask if we wanted her to sing for us. We eventually relented and paid her 20 yuan (about $3) to sing. To our surprise, she turned out to be an excellent singer and a great accompaniment to our exceptionally fresh organic chicken.

Fabulous bridge over the Min River in Dujiangyan

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