Its been almost a year and a half for me staying in this Asian giant, yet it never fails to impress me. When I first landed here with over 100's of doubts, queries and apprehensions in mind, I never thought I will stay back even for 6 months in the land of Dragons. Destiny, they say is funnier than what we think of it. As I complete 18 month of my stay, I try to look at this nation for the Infrastructure they have built with a foriegner's eye.
Over the course of next few minutes, I will take you through some of the most incredible investments.To cushion itself against the recession, the Asian giant is investing in one of the most ambitious public works programs the world has ever seen.
The 1.4 mile Bailing River Bridge in Guizhou is one of the hundreds of Infrastructure projects initiated by the Chinese as a way to create jobs and improve its domestic economy. The Baling River Bridge (Ba Lin He Bridge) is a suspension bridge in Guanling County in Guizhou Province of China. The bridge spans the Baling River Valley and was opened to public traffic on December 23, 2009. The bridge is part of the G60 Shanghai–Kunming Expressway between Kunming and Guiyang and reduced the travel time across the river valley from one hour to four minutes. The suspension span is 1,088 m (3,570 ft) long, and the bridge has a total length of 2,237 m (7,339 ft). It is also one of the world's highest bridges with 375 m (1,230 ft) clearance above the river.
Image Source:Time.com
There's an old Chinese saying that goes: “If you want to be rich, you must first build roads.”
And, boy, have they built some roads: In the past year, we've seen the world's longest sea bridge, the world's longest gas pipeline and a high-speed railway that's left everyone else in the dust — literally.
China is one of out of the several countries that signed a contract to re-construct the ancient "Silk Road" linking China and India with Europe. The estimated cost of the project is around $6.5 billion.
Image Source:Wiki Commons
If you felt that was it, then just hold your breath. China is one of the 32 countries, who signed agreement for the construction of highways to span the continent and reach Europe.
So you thought, it stops only at the roads. Hold on your breath a bit longer. The South-North Water Transfer Project is a multi-decade infrastructure project of the People's Republic of China to better utilize water resources available to China. This is to be achieved through the South North Water Diversion Project (SNWD). Whilst the main thrust is to divert water from the Yangtze River to the Yellow River and Hai River, other spin-off plans are also loosely included. Amongst these, a controversial plan calling for the capture and diversion of water from Brahmaputra River, located in Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon north of India, has been under study for years. However, due to widespread protests by the Government of India and Bangladesh, the chinese are rethinking the implementation of this project. Nonetheless, the thought of diverting the entire river flow needs some applauds
Hangzhou Bay Bridge is a long highway bridge with a cable-stayed portion across Hangzhou Bay in the eastern coastal region of China. It connects the municipalities of Jiaxing and Ningbo in Zhejiang province. At 35.673 km (22 mi) in length, Hangzhou Bay Bridge is one of the longest trans-ocean bridges in the world.The bridge shortened the highway travel distance between Ningbo and Shanghai from 400 km (249 mi) to 280 km (174 mi) and reduced travel time from 4 to 2.5 hours. Having travelled on this bridge, I can say, this truly is a man-made wonder on this planet without much a doubt.
The Jiuquan Wind Farm will be the largest wind power base in the world when completed in 2013.
Image Source:Wiki Commons
My blog would not be enough, such is the enormity of investments made by the China. We, as rest of the world can sit back and take notice. More than that, we should emulate what the Chinese government is doing for its people, rather than criticizing for what it is not doing.
Having seen the Chinese development story from close quarters, I can tell you all one thing with confidence, you need more than determination for taking your country to greater heights.
I wish and pray that one day, even our country will scale the heights of the past glory set by our ancestors before the British withered it away.
Over the course of next few minutes, I will take you through some of the most incredible investments.To cushion itself against the recession, the Asian giant is investing in one of the most ambitious public works programs the world has ever seen.
The 1.4 mile Bailing River Bridge in Guizhou is one of the hundreds of Infrastructure projects initiated by the Chinese as a way to create jobs and improve its domestic economy. The Baling River Bridge (Ba Lin He Bridge) is a suspension bridge in Guanling County in Guizhou Province of China. The bridge spans the Baling River Valley and was opened to public traffic on December 23, 2009. The bridge is part of the G60 Shanghai–Kunming Expressway between Kunming and Guiyang and reduced the travel time across the river valley from one hour to four minutes. The suspension span is 1,088 m (3,570 ft) long, and the bridge has a total length of 2,237 m (7,339 ft). It is also one of the world's highest bridges with 375 m (1,230 ft) clearance above the river.
There's an old Chinese saying that goes: “If you want to be rich, you must first build roads.”
And, boy, have they built some roads: In the past year, we've seen the world's longest sea bridge, the world's longest gas pipeline and a high-speed railway that's left everyone else in the dust — literally.
China is one of out of the several countries that signed a contract to re-construct the ancient "Silk Road" linking China and India with Europe. The estimated cost of the project is around $6.5 billion.
If you felt that was it, then just hold your breath. China is one of the 32 countries, who signed agreement for the construction of highways to span the continent and reach Europe.
Image Source:Wiki Commons
So you thought, it stops only at the roads. Hold on your breath a bit longer. The South-North Water Transfer Project is a multi-decade infrastructure project of the People's Republic of China to better utilize water resources available to China. This is to be achieved through the South North Water Diversion Project (SNWD). Whilst the main thrust is to divert water from the Yangtze River to the Yellow River and Hai River, other spin-off plans are also loosely included. Amongst these, a controversial plan calling for the capture and diversion of water from Brahmaputra River, located in Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon north of India, has been under study for years. However, due to widespread protests by the Government of India and Bangladesh, the chinese are rethinking the implementation of this project. Nonetheless, the thought of diverting the entire river flow needs some applauds
Image Source:Wiki Commons
China is not left far behind when it comes to buliding some of the tallest in the world. When I looked up from the bottom of the Shanghai Financial Tower, I said to myself, "you are kidding me". My eyes turned to the adjacent building under construction. The curious self that I am, I asked my chinese friend to throw some light about the ongoing project and got to know that it will replace the title of the tallest bulding in China and will hold the coveted title of 2nd tallest building in the world known as "The Shanghai Tower". Estimated Project Cost $2.2 Billion.
Image Source:Wiki Commons
Hangzhou Bay Bridge is a long highway bridge with a cable-stayed portion across Hangzhou Bay in the eastern coastal region of China. It connects the municipalities of Jiaxing and Ningbo in Zhejiang province. At 35.673 km (22 mi) in length, Hangzhou Bay Bridge is one of the longest trans-ocean bridges in the world.The bridge shortened the highway travel distance between Ningbo and Shanghai from 400 km (249 mi) to 280 km (174 mi) and reduced travel time from 4 to 2.5 hours. Having travelled on this bridge, I can say, this truly is a man-made wonder on this planet without much a doubt.
Image Source:Wiki Commons
The Jiuquan Wind Farm will be the largest wind power base in the world when completed in 2013.
My blog would not be enough, such is the enormity of investments made by the China. We, as rest of the world can sit back and take notice. More than that, we should emulate what the Chinese government is doing for its people, rather than criticizing for what it is not doing.
Having seen the Chinese development story from close quarters, I can tell you all one thing with confidence, you need more than determination for taking your country to greater heights.
I wish and pray that one day, even our country will scale the heights of the past glory set by our ancestors before the British withered it away.
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