BEIJING: Construction is set to begin next month on a monumental railway linking Hotan in Xinjiang with Lhasa in Tibet – one of China’s most ambitious infrastructure projects to date.
The 1,980km (1,230 miles) line has been dubbed one of the “projects of the century” for the extreme engineering challenges it presents and the massive investment required. Traversing mountain ranges, glaciers, and permafrost zones at altitudes averaging above 4,500 metres (14,764 feet), it will connect the two autonomous regions in northwestern and southwestern China.
