Xinjiang Province: News & Discussions

[beijingwalker]

By Sarah Gray
October 30, 2017
Engineers in China are laying plans for what would be the world’s largest water tunnel at more than 600 miles.

The tunnel, which would stretch from Tibet to the Taklimakan Desert in Xinjiang province, would surpass the current record holder: a 85-mile tunnel that pipes water around New York City.

The planned 621-mile tunnel (1,000 km), would transport water from the Yarlung Tsangpo River to the barren Xinjiang region, with the goal of turning the area “into California,” an anonymous geotechnical engineer told the South China Morning Post.

There are major obstacles to this ambitious project, including objections by neighboring countries. The Yarlung Tsangpo River crosses the border with India to become the Brahmaputra River and later merges with the Ganges River in Bangladesh. Other potential roadblocks include the rugged terrain the tunnel must go under and environmental concerns.

“The more than 400 billion tonnes of water [the Tibetan Plateau] releases each year—almost enough to fill Lake Erie in the United States—also feeds the source of other major rivers, including the Yellow, Yangtze, Mekong (known in China as the Lancang) and the Ganges,” The South China Morning Post reports.

“It will change the landscape of an entire region,” Zhou Shiqiao, who does research for the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, told the South China Morning Post. “To my knowledge, no environmental evaluation has been carried out. The nature and scale of the impact remains in the dark.”

Zhang Chuanqing, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, said the project won’t start for another 10 years because of the cost and technology.


In the meantime, Zhang points to the 373-mile tunnel being built in the Yunnan province (on which construction started in August) as a test run for the longer Tibetan project. The Yunnan tunnel begins on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the second-highest plateau in the country after Tibet, making it a good model for its longer cousin, according to Zhang.

The Yunnan tunnel will be a big challenge because of its size—it will be wide enough to fit two high-speed trains—and the fact that it must cross earthquake fault lines.

“It is to show we have the brains, muscle and tools to build super-long tunnels in hazardous terrains, and the cost does not break the bank,” Zhang told the South China Morning Post,
http://fortune.com/2017/10/30/china-worlds-longest-water-tunnel/

 

[beijingwalker]

 

[clarkgap]

So many members post this stupid news. This project would never work.

 

[beijingwalker]

South North water diversion project, three gorges dam, Tibetan railway,Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge... When China says she will do it, it'll be done soon enough.

 

[clarkgap]

South North water diversion project, three gorges dam, Tibetan railway,Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge... When China says she will do it, it'll be done soon enough.

China government never said they will build such water tunnel. It is just a crazy proposal. Thousands of such proposal will be failed every year.

 

[beijingwalker]

China government never said they will build such water tunnel. It is just a crazy proposal. Thousands of such proposal will be failed every year.

Let's wait and see, the government did the feasibility study on this project for already two decades already, it's not a mere coincidence that this decades old proposal surfaced again now right after Xi just consolidated his power.


"In 1999, with the support of central leaders, a team of scholars specializing water resources, climate, geology and civil engineering, including Guo, launched a 36-day investigation trip to the related area and came up with a positive report.

The plan has drawn lots of support, including from Ren. But Geng admits the whole project would cost an estimated 1.1 trillion yuan ($163.69 billion) and take at least 20 years to finish.

Mei says that Xinjiang cannot afford this project. "The region's GDP last year was only 900 billion yuan. But its expenditure was almost five times its income. It depends massively on central government subsidies and the assistance of local governments in other parts of China," Mei explained.

Wang Guangqian, a hydrologist and academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, proposes building canals and pipelines along the Qinghai-Tibet railway to divert water from the Yarlung Zangbo.

"[We] thought this wouldn't happen for 50 years but it is necessary now," Wang was quoted as saying by the First Financial Daily in 2011, citing China's growing demand for water, increasing desertification and shrinking groundwater reserves in North China."

 

[clarkgap]

Let's wait and see, the government did the feasibility study on this project for already two decades already, it's not a mere coincidence that this decades old proposal surfaced again now right after Xi just consolidated his power.


"In 1999, with the support of central leaders, a team of scholars specializing water resources, climate, geology and civil engineering, including Guo, launched a 36-day investigation trip to the related area and came up with a positive report.

The plan has drawn lots of support, including from Ren. But Geng admits the whole project would cost an estimated 1.1 trillion yuan ($163.69 billion) and take at least 20 years to finish.

Mei says that Xinjiang cannot afford this project. "The region's GDP last year was only 900 billion yuan. But its expenditure was almost five times its income. It depends massively on central government subsidies and the assistance of local governments in other parts of China," Mei explained.

Wang Guangqian, a hydrologist and academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, proposes building canals and pipelines along the Qinghai-Tibet railway to divert water from the Yarlung Zangbo.

"[We] thought this wouldn't happen for 50 years but it is necessary now," Wang was quoted as saying by the First Financial Daily in 2011, citing China's growing demand for water, increasing desertification and shrinking groundwater reserves in North China."

Building a ban on Irtysh and Ili river is obviouly a more effiective scheme than building a water tunnel across Tanggula Mountain. Why do they not do this firstly.

 

[Shahzaz ud din]

Officials deny Tibet-Xinjiang water diversion project exists
By Deng Xiaoci Source:Global Times Published: 2017/10/31 23:23:41
0



Yunnan water project designed to alleviate drought in province

China dismissed a report that the country is testing techniques in preparation for the building of a tunnel to carry water from Tibet to Xinjiang, which experts also say is unrealistic.

"This is untrue," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said when asked to comment at a news conference in Beijing on Tuesday about the South China Morning Post (SCMP) report.

The SCMP on Monday quoted "experts" as saying that the ongoing construction of a 600-kilometer-long water tunnel in Southwest China's Yunnan Province would be a "rehearsal" of new technology, engineering methods and equipment needed for the tunnel, which is expected to extend as long as 1,000 kilometers, and would divert the Yarlung Zangbo River in the southern Tibet Autonomous Region to the Taklamakan Desert in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

China was now taking a "quiet, step-by-step approach to bring it to life," the report quoted an expert surnamed Zhang, who "has played a key role in many major Chinese water tunnel projects," as saying.

The chief engineer of the Yunnan water tunnel project dismissed the report when interviewed by the Global Times. "There is no such direction from the central government, and I've never heard of any plan laid out for a Tibet-Xinjiang tunnel project," said Zhao Shijie, chief engineer of the Dianzhong water diversion project, a scheme in central Yunnan.

Zhao told the Global Times that it is not the first time he has heard rumors about a Tibet-Xinjiang tunnel, but they are baseless.

The Yunnan water diversion project which involves tunnel construction works exceeding 600 kilometers is designed to address a severe water shortage in the province's central region. It began on August 4.

According to the People's Daily on August 7, with a total length of 661.07 kilometers, the diversion project will bring water from the Jinsha River to cities including Lijiang and Kunming. The construction is expected to take 96 months.

The total fund for the Yunnan water diversion project is estimated at more than 78 billion yuan ($11.8 billion), according to a budget released in the second quarter of 2016, reported Yunnan.cn.

Huge cost

The idea of sending Tibetan water to Xinjiang dates back to the late 1950s. "March into the Desert," a famous article by meteorologist, geologist and educator Zhu Kezhen (1890-1974) that has long featured in Chinese schoolbooks, advises diverting water to Xinjiang's arid plains.

A plan to divert water from Tibet to the northern parts of China was heatedly discussed in the 1990s. Over the decade, 208 lawmakers and 118 political advisers raised proposals and motions on the plan, according to a 2006 report by the Southern Weekly.

However, the dream of massive water diversions has never been approved due to concerns of the huge cost and potential for damaging the landscape.

"I firmly oppose the project, as Xinjiang cannot afford this project," said Mei Xinyu, an associate researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

The estimated cost of diverting water from Tibet to Xinjiang would be five times that of Xinjiang's annual GDP.

It may depend massively on central government subsidies and the assistance of local governments in other regions, which likely would lead to social instability, Mei added.

 

[samsara]

Well if anyone can do it, China can

If there is any one country that can accomplish a project of this scale of challenges,
that country will be the one and only one, CHINA!​

I hope this project will get a go in not too distant future, and look forward to seeing its completion. It will be even more amazing to visit and see a GREEN XINJIANG filled up with trees, forests, plantations!!! And imagine a wish that was nurtured more than a century-long ago during the Qing Dynasty finally can be realized... may even grander than the other dream of linking Lhasa and Xining with railway, which was already realized in 2006. 天耀中华！But even before that I wish to visit this region, seeing with my eyes and experience the life at the ancient cities like Kashgar (Kashi); Kucha (Kuqa); Korla; Hotan (Hetian); Aksu; Turpan; Urumqi.

 

[Tang_BJ]

this project is under discussion and investigation for more than 30 years, someone have collected the related information, about 157 different proposals were submitted to People's Congress in these years. but this project is too aggressive and too difficult. maybe after Yunnan tunnel is finished and all system works well, gov will give a green light to this Big West Line project.

 

[Shahzaz ud din]

A look at city landscape of Kashgar, NW China's Xinjiang
Source:Xinhua Published: 2017/11/10 8:26:32
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Aerial photo taken on Nov. 7, 2017 shows the scenery of city area in Kashgar, northwest China's XinjiangUygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao)

Aerial photo taken on Nov. 7, 2017 shows the scenery of the old city the economic and technological development zone in Kashgar, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu)

Aerial photo taken on Oct. 22, 2017 shows the scenery of city area in Kashgar, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao)

Aerial photo taken on Nov. 7, 2017 shows the scenery of the economic and technological development zone in Kashgar, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu)

Aerial photo taken on Nov. 7, 2017 shows the night view of Kashgar, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao)

Aerial photo taken on Nov. 7, 2017 shows the scenery of old city area in Kashgar, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Xing Guangli)

Aerial photo taken on Nov. 8, 2017 shows the scenery of old city area in Kashgar, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Xing Guangli)

Aerial photo taken on Nov. 7, 2017 shows the scenery of Kashgar, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

 

[Adam WANG SHANGHAI MEGA]

I love xinjiang region,i met a guy in.shanghai when i was in college, xinjiang people are really nice!

 

[beijingwalker]

From kindergarten to high school, Xinjiang has 15 years of free education

 

[beijingwalker]

Xinjiang offers 15 years of free education to residents

2017-11-21 09:36
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, in Northwest China, will offer free high school education to all students in the region starting in December benefiting nearly 860,000 students, education regulators announced.

The move will provide every student in Xinjiang with 15 years of free education, covering three years of preschool, nine years of primary and middle school education and three years of high school or vocational training.

Tuition fees will be waived for students who will also receive free accommodation and textbooks. Subsidies will be provided to students from low-income families, according to the Xinjiang Daily on Monday.

Chinese experts say the policy not only showcases the government's ability to bring practical benefits to people living in less developed areas, but will also help sway Xinjiang youth from falling under the influence of extremist elements.

"We should keep in mind that teens are teens no matter where they grow up in China. Xinjiang's youth grow up in a more complicated situation." La Disheng, a professor at the Party School of the Communist Party of China Xinjiang regional committee, told the Global Times.

La stressed that providing universal free education in Xinjiang will serve as a foundation for their pursuit of a good life, and in turn help build a better China in the decades to come.

The policy does not differentiate students based on their ethnic background, which showcases the program's equality, noted Xiong Kunxin, a professor at Beijing's Minzu University of China.

Xiong told the Global Times that unlike previous policies favoring ethnic minority groups in Xinjiang, this reform is designed to lessen the sense of inequality felt by the local Han people.

Xinjiang had previously implemented a pre-school to middle school free education program for students in Southern Xinjiang's Kashgar, Hotan and Aksu prefectures, while students in the Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture received a full 15 years of free education, according to People's Daily on Monday.

Xinjiang has also set aside 2.58 billion yuan ($170 million) to finance the region's 15-year free education program, and students from low-income families in rural areas will be included in the financial aid program, said the report.

Fruitful in the long run

Xinjiang is not the first region to provide free education. In 2015, Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region began to provide free 15-year education from primary to high school, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Students in Qinghai Province's six Tibetan and Mongolian autonomous prefectures, together with those from poverty-stricken families in the provincial capital, were provided with the same 15-year free education in the spring of 2016.

La says the programs show China has become more capable of taking care of people from less developed areas.

Echoing La, Xiong said the move shows that China attaches growing importance to education, which will prove fruitful in the long run.
http://www.ecns.cn/2017/11-21/281683.shtml

 

[BHarwana]

Wow great decision. Encouraging education is a great thing. A big thumbs up for China. What china is doing is that how you build a strong future.