Photostory June 12 2007

Eyewitness: The China-Tibet sky train
The Joan Wakelin Photographic Bursary, administered by the Guardian and the Royal Photographic Society, is given to the photographer who presents the best proposal for a photographic essay on an overseas social documentary issue. It was established from a legacy by the photojournalist Joan Wakelin.

Last year's winner, Charles Stewart , travelled to China to photograph a new railway line between China and Tibet. The 714-mile Golmud-Lhasa line links the province of Qinghai, and by extension Beijing, with the Tibetan capital, Lhasa. The trains were specially designed to operate in the extreme conditions of the 4,000ft Tibetan Plateau, where temperatures regularly drop to -35C and 50mph winds act as an "ecological sandblaster".

The vast majority of passengers on the new line are Han Chinese migrant workers, entrepreneurs and tourists. Rebranding by Beijing has helped turn Tibet into a popular tourist destination. In an attempt to enrich the cultural experience for Chinese tourists, many Tibetan families who live near the line have been forced into rebuilding their houses in an 'authentic' style. Subsidies are available to help pay for the renovations, but most families are now burdened with financial debt.

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A Canadian-Chinese joint venture was responsible for building specialised carriages that could cope with the extreme conditions. The ‘sky trains’ can be seen from a great distance in the enormity of the Tibetan plains. In the run-up to the opening of the new railway, the trains were widely depicted as space-age shuttles, but their final design was inspired by Belgian models from the 1980s (Photograph: Charles Stewart)

The most recent extension to China’s vast railway network is the 1,142km stretch that links the province of Qinghai with Tibet. The Golmud-Lhasa railway (Qingzang railway) was officially opened on July 1 2006 and a daily service from Beijing was promptly started. The journey along the 4,064km of track takes 48 hours with the trains travelling at 160kmh on the planes and at 120kmh from Golmud (Photograph: Charles Stewart)


The station at Dangxiong is a typical example of one of the 45 stations that are dotted along the line between Golmud and Lhasa. The modern structures are distinct amid Tibet’s dramatic landscapes and the majority of them are eerily vacant. 38 of the stations see little more action than the six times a day when the long haul ‘sky trains’ hurtle past, as are unmanned and monitored by a control centre in the city of Xining (Photograph: Charles Stewart)


All of the commercial services that climb from Golmud into Tibet end their journey at Lhasa railway station. The size of the construction is another indication that the Chinese government intends to increase the frequency of services and expand the rail network further into Tibet (Photograph: Charles Stewart)


Li Yang has worked as a chef on the Golmud-Lhasa Railway since it opened. A tube carries pure oxygen directly into Li Yang’s nose while he cooks (Photograph: Charles Stewart)


A vast portion of the new railway line has been constructed on permafrost. Layers of the permafrost seasonally thaw, which means that the contour of the land regularly changes. This creates challenging construction conditions, specialist engineers solved by refrigerating the ground underneath the track with ammonia-filled ‘thermal bars’ (Photograph: Charles Stewart)


Tashi Angsar village is about approximately 120km north-west of Lhasa. It was once a typical rural village but now imposing concrete structures dominate the landscape. The track was built about 40m from Chemi and Wangchu’s house and it is clear that it has had an impact on their lives (Photograph: Charles Stewart)


Previously Normu's house looked out over a typical Tibetan landscape. A line of concrete viaducts now divides the valley and six trains rumble past every day. Many Tibetans have concerns about the effect on herds and wild animals as the line has been built through ecologically fragile regions. The Chinese government has spent over £100m on environmental protection measures including the construction of 33 underpasses that have been built specifically for migrating animals (Photograph: Charles Stewart)


Jamien is travelling to Tibet with his family to spend five days visiting Lhasa. Even though the tourist season has not started, the train to Lhasa is packed with Chinese sightseers (Photograph: Charles Stewart)