百年米轨的新生 Veteran railway looks to the future

The Yunnan-Vietnam Railway(铁路) has some amazing stories to tell(讲述). Built initially(最初) for trade(贸易), this veteran piece of engineering was designed(设计) by France(法国), and connects Vietnam's Hai Phong with Kunming, in southwest China's Yunnan province. 855 km long, it was the first(第一) railway linking(连接) China to another country(国家). 

The railway project was initiated by the then French government to facilitate European(欧洲) exports(出口产品) to China. During WWII, it served as a major transport(运输) route(线路) for supplies(供给). It is one of the few narrow-gauge railways remaining in China.

The construction of this inverted V single-span railway bridge in Yunnan proved difficult and expensive, but it's withstood many challenges, including times of war.

Since 1990s, both China and Vietnam have been working to connect the railway to the standard –gauge rail network. Passenger services on the section in China ended in 2003.

China, along with 18 other Asian countries, has agreed to build a Trans-Asian Railway (TAR). It's sometimes called the 'Iron Silk Road'. The century-old Yunnan-Vietnam Railway is included in the eastern section(段) of this major(主要的) infrastructure(基础设施) project(项目). The TAR's east section will link China, Myanmar(缅甸), Thailand(泰国), Vietnam(越南), Lao(老挝), Singapore(新加坡) and Malaysia(马来西亚).

词汇 Words:

[tiě lù] 铁路 railway
[mào yì] 贸易 trade
[yùn shū] 运输 transport
[xiàn lù] 线路 route
[gōng jǐ] 供给 supply
[xiàng mù] 项目 project
[guó jiā] 国家 country
[duàn] 段 section
[jī chǔ shè shī] 基础设施 infrastructure
[zuì chū] 最初 initially
[dì yī] 第一 first
[zhǔ yào de] 主要的 major

相关国家 Related countries:

[zhōng guó] 中国 China
[miǎn diàn] 缅甸 Myanmar
[tài guó] 泰国 Thailand
[yuè nán] 越南 Vietnam
[lǎo wō] 老挝 Lao
[xīn jiā pō] 新加坡 Singapore
[mǎ lái xī yà] 马来西亚 Malaysia
[fǎ guó] 法国 France