Download or read book China s Great Train written by Abrahm Lustgarten and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2009-05-12 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lustgarten's book is a timely and provocative account of China's unstoppable quest to build a railway into Tibet, and the nation's obsession to transform its land and its people.
Download or read book Riding the Iron Rooster written by Paul Theroux and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2006-12-08 with total page 533 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The acclaimed travel writer chronicles a year of train travel across China in a revealing travelogue that “gives the reader much to relish and think about” (Publishers Weekly). The author of the train travel classics The Great Railway Bazaar and The Old Patagonian Express, takes to the rails once again in this account of his epic journey through China. The always irascible, infectiously curious author “is in top form as he describes the barren deserts of Mongolia and Xinjiang, the ice forests of Manchuria and the dry hills of Tibet. He captures their otherworldly, haunting appearances perfectly. He is also right on target when he talks about the ugliness of China's poorly planned, hastily built cities” (Mark Salzman, The New York Times). Theroux hops aboard a train as part of a tour group in London and sets out for China's border. He then spends a year traversing the country, where he pieces together a fascinating snapshot of a unique moment in history. From sweeping and desolate natural landscapes to the dense metropolises of Shanghai, Beijing, and Canton, Theroux offers an unforgettable portrait of a magnificent land and an extraordinary people.
Download or read book Railroads and the Transformation of China written by Elisabeth Köll and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2019-01-14 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a vehicle to convey both the history of modern China and the complex forces still driving the nation’s economic success, rail has no equal. Railroads and the Transformation of China is the first comprehensive history, in any language, of railroad operation from the last decades of the Qing Empire to the present. China’s first fractured lines were built under semicolonial conditions by competing foreign investors. The national system that began taking shape in the 1910s suffered all the ills of the country at large: warlordism and Japanese invasion, Chinese partisan sabotage, the Great Leap Forward when lines suffered in the “battle for steel,” and the Cultural Revolution, during which Red Guards were granted free passage to “make revolution” across the country, nearly collapsing the system. Elisabeth Köll’s expansive study shows how railroads survived the rupture of the 1949 Communist revolution and became an enduring model of Chinese infrastructure expansion. The railroads persisted because they were exemplary bureaucratic institutions. Through detailed archival research and interviews, Köll builds case studies illuminating the strength of rail administration. Pragmatic management, combining central authority and local autonomy, sustained rail organizations amid shifting political and economic priorities. As Köll shows, rail provided a blueprint for the past forty years of ambitious, semipublic business development and remains an essential component of the PRC’s politically charged, technocratic economic model for China’s future.
Download or read book Ghost Train written by Paul Yee and published by Groundwood Books Ltd. This book was released on 2020-08-25 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of a young Chinese girl who arrives in North America only to discover that her father has died building the railway. This powerful, unforgettable and multi-award-winning tale is based on the lives of the Chinese who settled on the west coast of North America in the early 1900s. Left behind in China by her father, who has gone to North America to find work, Choon-yi has made her living by selling her paintings in the market. When her father writes one day and asks her to join him, she joyously sets off, only to discover that he has been killed. Choon-yi sees the railway and the giant train engines that her father died for, and she is filled with an urge to paint them. But her work disappoints her until a ghostly presence beckons her to board a train where she meets the ghosts of the men who died building the railway. She is able to give them peace by returning their bones to China where they were born. Ghostly, magical and yet redeeming, this tale by Paul Yee is superbly illustrated by Harvey Chan. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.7 Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting)
Download or read book China s High Speed Rail Development written by Martha Lawrence and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2019-06-24 with total page 101 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the past decade, China has built 25,000 km of dedicated highspeed railway—more than the rest of the world combined. What can we learn from this remarkable experience? China’s High-Speed Rail Development examines the Chinese experience to draw lessons for countries considering investing in high-speed rail. The report scrutinizes the planning and delivery mechanisms that enabled the rapid construction of the high-speed rail system. It highlights the role of long-term planning, consistent plan execution, and a joint venture structure that ensures active participation of provincial and local governments in project planning and financing. Traffic on China’s high-speed trains has grown to 1.7 billion passengers a year. The study examines the characteristics of the markets for which high-speed rail is competitive in China. It discusses the pricing and service design considerations that go into making high-speed rail services competitive with other modes and factors such as good urban connectivity that make the service attractive to customers. One of the most remarkable aspects of the Chinese experience is the rapid pace of high-quality construction. The report looks at the role of strong capacity development within and cooperation among China Railway Corporation, rail manufacturers, universities, research institutions, laboratories, and engineering centers that allowed for rapid technological advancement and localization of technology. It describes the project delivery structures and incentives for delivering quality and timely results. Finally, the report analyzes the financial and economic sustainability of the investment in high-speed rail. It finds that a developing country can price high-speed rail services affordably and still achieve financial viability, but this requires very high passenger density. Economic viability similarly depends on high passenger density.
Download or read book Chinese Characters written by Nina Train Choa and published by Shanghai Press. This book was released on 2010-10-10 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explore the history and meanings behind Chinese characters with this fascinating language book. Language can give a tremendous insight into the culture of a nation. Chinese characters, with their strong pictorial aspect, provide a great source of revealing information regarding ancient Chinese civilization and its historical connection with contemporary Chinese writing. As you turn the pages, you will tour a carefully selected collection of Chinese characters in daily use, illustrated by beautiful ancient inscriptions as well as both simple and detailed explanations. From these you can gain a better understanding and appreciation of the evolution of Chinese characters and the culture embodied in them. The Chinese characters in this book are a modest representation which gives a clue to the amazing relationship between their forms and meanings. Generally they fall into four categories: radicals, people or body parts, plants and nature as well as objects, all related to the simple aspects of daily life in ancient China.
Download or read book Night Train to Turkistan written by Stuart Stevens and published by Atlantic Monthly Press. This book was released on 1988 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first account of travel in Chinese Turkistan, closed to foreigners since 1949, shows a world where bureaucratic hazards often loom larger than geographical ones. First serial to Esquire.
Download or read book Chinese on the Train written by Fuchun Wang and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 105 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wang Fuchun fotografeerde jarenlang treinreizigers in China.
Download or read book Ghosts of Gold Mountain written by Gordon H. Chang and published by Houghton Mifflin. This book was released on 2019 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A groundbreaking, breathtaking history of the Chinese workers who built the Transcontinental Railroad, helping to forge modern America only to disappear into the shadows of history until now.
Download or read book Africa s Freedom Railway written by Jamie Monson and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2009-03-12 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The TAZARA (Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority), or Freedom Railway, from Dar es Salaam on the Tanzanian coast to the Copperbelt region of Zambia, was instrumental in fostering one of the most sweeping development transitions in postcolonial Africa. Built during the height of the Cold War, the railway was intended to redirect the mineral wealth of the interior away from routes through South Africa and Rhodesia. Rebuffed by Western aid agencies, newly independent Tanzania and Zambia accepted help from China to construct what would become one of Africa's most vital transportation corridors. The book follows the railroad from design and construction to its daily use as a vital means for moving villagers and goods. It tells a story of how transnational interests contributed to environmental change, population movements, and the rise of local and regional enterprise.
Download or read book Chinese Steam written by David Kitching and published by Amberley Publishing Limited. This book was released on 2017-12-15 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A stunning and evocative collection of images documenting the final years of steam locomotives on the railways of China.
Download or read book Riding the Iron Rooster written by Paul Theroux and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2006 with total page 484 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published: New York: Putnam's, c1988.
Download or read book Around India in 80 Trains written by Monisha Rajesh and published by Nicholas Brealey. This book was released on 2012-11-08 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Crackles and sparks with life like an exploding box of Diwali fireworks." -- William Dalrymple In 1991, Monisha Rajesh's family uprooted from Sheffield to Madras in the hope of making India their home. Two years later, fed up with soap-eating rats, severed human heads and the creepy colonel across the road, they returned to England with a bitter taste in their mouths. Two decades on, she turns to a map of the Indian Railways and takes a page out of Jules Verne's classic tale, embarking on an adventure around India in 80 trains, covering 40,000 km - the circumference of the Earth. She hopes that 80 train journeys up, down and across India will lift the veil on a country that has become a stranger to her. Along the way, Monisha discovers that the Indian Railways - featuring luxury trains, toy trains, Mumbai's infamous commuter trains, and even a hospital on wheels - have more than a few stories to tell, not to mention a colourful cast of characters. And with a self-confessed "militant devout atheist" in tow, her personal journey around a country built on religion isn't quite what she bargained for...
Download or read book Rivers of Iron written by David M. Lampton and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2020-10-13 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What China’s infamous railway initiative can teach us about global dominance. In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled what would come to be known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)—a global development strategy involving infrastructure projects and associated financing throughout the world, including Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas. While the Chinese government has framed the plan as one promoting transnational connectivity, critics and security experts see it as part of a larger strategy to achieve global dominance. Rivers of Iron examines one aspect of President Xi Jinping’s “New Era”: China’s effort to create an intercountry railway system connecting China and its seven Southeast Asian neighbors (Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam). This book illuminates the political strengths and weaknesses of the plan, as well as the capacity of the impacted countries to resist, shape, and even take advantage of China’s wide-reaching actions. Using frameworks from the fields of international relations and comparative politics, the authors of Rivers of Iron seek to explain how domestic politics in these eight Asian nations shaped their varying external responses and behaviors. How does China wield power using infrastructure? Do smaller states have agency? How should we understand the role of infrastructure in broader development? Does industrial policy work? And crucially, how should competing global powers respond?
Download or read book Sky Train written by Canyon Sam and published by University of Washington Press. This book was released on 2011-02-01 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Through a lyrical narrative of her journey to Tibet in 2007, activist Canyon Sam contemplates modern history from the perspective of Tibetan women. Traveling on China's new "Sky Train," she celebrates Tibetan New Year with the Lhasa family whom she'd befriended decades earlier and concludes an oral-history project with women elders. As she uncovers stories of Tibetan women's courage, resourcefulness, and spiritual strength in the face of loss and hardship since the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1950, and observes the changes wrought by the controversial new rail line in the futuristic "new Lhasa," Sam comes to embrace her own capacity for letting go, for faith, and for acceptance. Her glimpse of Tibet's past through the lens of the women - a visionary educator, a freedom fighter, a gulag survivor, and a child bride - affords her a unique perspective on the state of Tibetan culture today - in Tibet, in exile, and in the widening Tibetan diaspora. Gracefully connecting the women's poignant histories to larger cultural, political, and spiritual themes, the author comes full circle, finding wisdom and wholeness even as she acknowledges Tibet's irreversible changes.
Download or read book Manchurian Railways and the Opening of China An International History written by Bruce Elleman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-01-28 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The railways of Manchuria offer an intriguing vantage point for an international history of northeast Asia. Before the completion of the Trans-Siberian railway in 1916, the only rail route from the Imperial Russian capital of St. Petersburg to the Pacific port of Vladivostok transited Manchuria. A spur line from the Manchurian city of Harbin led south to ice-free Port Arthur. Control of these two rail lines gave Imperial Russia military, economic, and political advantages that excited rivalry on the part of Japan and unease on the part of weak and divided China. Meanwhile, the effort to defend and retain that strategic hold against rising Japanese power strained distant Moscow. Control of the Manchurian railways was contested in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5; Japan's 1931 invasion and establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo; the second Sino-Japanese War and World War II in Asia; and, the Chinese civil war that culminated in the Communist victory over the Nationalists. Today, the railways are critical to plans for development of China's sparsely populated interior. This volume brings together an international group of scholars to explore this fascinating history.
Download or read book Homer and the Circus Train written by Hardie Gramatky and published by StarWalk Kids Media. This book was released on 2014-06-30 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Homer is a train caboose and one of the best in the business. He has a coat of red paint, and a gleam in his eye, and he carries himself with pride. The only trouble is that Homer's job as end man on the train causes him to ride backwards.
