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East Asia CNN: Beneath the Great Wall of China lies the world's deepest high-speed railway station and the world's first self-driving high-speed train

CNN: Beneath the Great Wall of China lies the world's deepest high-speed railway station and the world's first self-driving high-speed train
Updated 3rd February 2022
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The Great Wall

(CNN) — With the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics fast approaching, the world's first self-driving high-speed train is already in action, transporting athletes and officials between the two main cities hosting the games on the historic Beijing-Zhangjiakou intercity railway.

The fact that this bullet train can drive itself is remarkable enough. But partway through the 56-minute ride, it passes through another engineering marvel: the Badaling Great Wall Station.

Completed in 2019, the station is a stone's throw away from the entrance to Badaling, the most popular section of the centuries-old wall. To protect the iconic monument from structural damage, the railway line and its accompanying station were built deep underground.

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Buried 102 meters (335 feet) below ground and covering an area of more than 36,000 square meters, the three-story structure is said to be the world's deepest and largest underground high-speed railway station.

Constructing such a complex station, which includes a 12-kilometer-long (7.45 miles) tunnel system, under a UNESCO World Heritage site was no easy feat.

According to China's state media, engineers used an electronic detonator to precisely time the explosives down to the millisecond. It was the first time the technology was used in China, and allowed workers to maintain a vibration velocity of below 0.2 centimeters per second.

That means every explosion was precisely calculated to ensure the impact would be no stronger than a single footstep on the Great Wall.

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Starting in 2016, construction of the tunnel and the station took around three years to complete.

The high-speed railway shortens the journey from China's capital city to the Badaling Great Wall from around 1.5 hours -- traffic congestion could make that time far longer -- to around 27 minutes.

The station is a few minutes away from the Great Wall cable car station and around 800 meters (0.5 miles) from the starting point of the Badaling Great Wall. It's also home to China's second-longest escalator, stretching 88 meters long and 42 meters high.

Because of the distance to the train platform, the station gate is closed to ticket holders 12 minutes before the departure of the final train, instead of the usual five minutes in other stations in China, to ensure that the passengers have enough time to make their way through the massive station.

Will the Great Wall be making an appearance at the Winter Olympics?​

While there won't be any Olympics sporting events taking place anywhere near the Badaling Great Wall, it will be part of the torch relay, taking place February 2-4.
As a result the station, as well as the Badaling section of the wall, is closed on February 2 and 3.

Badaling isn't the only portion of the Great Wall that will make an appearance on TV screens as part of the Winter Olympics ceremonies.
Chongli district and Yanqing district, two areas with Winter Olympics villages, are also home to parts of the ancient barricade.

Some tracks at the National Ski Jumping Centre in Chongli are as close as 20 meters to the Great Wall, offering a historic view for the skiers competing in the games.


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The Winter Olympics high-speed railway​

The 108-mile-long Beijing-Zhangjiakou railway is served by a new high-speed electric multiple-unit (EMU) Fuxing train developed and operated by the state-owned China State Railway Group.

Unveiled in early January, it can run up to 350 kilometers (or 217 miles) per hour and cuts travel time between two of the main Olympics host cities from three hours to 56 minutes.

Though the high-speed train is autonomous, a monitoring driver is on board at all times. The train can automatically start, stop and adjust to the different speed limits between stations.
The train's eight cars are equipped with 5G signals, intelligent lighting and 2,718 sensors to collect real-time data and detect any operational abnormalities.

Special carriages were designed with the needs of athletes in mind. For instance, some cabins feature larger storage areas for winter sports equipment, which can be accessed by QR code.

In addition to the main rail line, there are also two branches, Yanqing and Chongli, that connect authorized passengers to two key Winter Olympic villages.

A 55-day closed-loop management system, which started from January 21, has been implemented so those heading to the Olympic Games do not share the same train carriages as other passengers on the line. (Read more about Beijing's ambitious Olympics "bubble" here.)

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/arti...tation-high-speed-railway-intl-hnk/index.html

East Asia The Chinese scientists leaving top US universities to take up high-profile roles in China, boosting Beijing in its race for global talent

The Chinese scientists leaving top US universities to take up high-profile roles in China, boosting Beijing in its race for global talent​

  • Over the past few years, hundreds of Chinese scientists have switched affiliations from American universities to institutions in China
  • The Post looks at some of the highest-profile people to make the change

Published: 11:00am, 27 Jan, 2024

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China aims to attract more STEM talent to achieve its goal of technological self-reliance. Photo: Shutterstock

1. Tsinghua University’s ‘star’ twin scientists return to China from the US, Canada

The return to China of Tsinghua University’s “star” twin scientists at the end of their postdoctoral research in North America was celebrated on Chinese social media after it was announced on the alma mater’s website.

2. Acclaimed China-born physicist who taught at Stanford joins Tsinghua University

“Master researcher” Gao Huajian joins Tsinghua University for the next chapter of a glittering international career that has included top awards in his field.

3. Star mathematician leaves US for China

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The 36-year-old Chinese-born geometer has joined the faculty of the Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics. Photo: Zhejiang University

Award-winning Chinese-born geometer Sun Song leaves California to take up a position in China.

4. MacArthur ‘genius’ biochemist Kunliang Guan leaves US for new role in China
After working in the United States for more than 30 years, biochemist Kunliang Guan is back in China with a full-time chair professor position at Westlake University in the eastern province of Zhejiang.

5. British chair professor joins China’s hypersonic programme
After more than 20 years in Britain as a prominent physicist dedicated to unveiling the secrets of superfast fluids, Zhang Yonghao joins China’s new national hypersonic laboratory in Beijing.

6. Award-winning Chinese mathematician returns to Peking University from US
Sun Xin, who specialises in probability theory and mathematical physics, was a joint winner of the prestigious Rollo Davidson Prize this year.

7. ‘Itch gene’ scientist joins Shenzhen institute after US lab shut down amid probe

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Chen Zhoufeng (left) and his colleagues made a series of discoveries to advance the understanding of how itch works. Photo: Washington University School of Medicine
Chen Zhoufeng, a leading expert in the study of itch mechanisms joins an institute in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, after 33 years in the United States.

8. Scientist exiled from US brain research finds well-funded lab in China

Xiang-Dong Fu, who left California over suspicions about his foreign links, has joined Westlake University in southern China.

9. ‘Goddess scientist’ coming home to set up medical school to China’s delight

World famous structural biologist Nieng Yan – dubbed China’s “goddess scientist” – who broke many hearts when she moved to a top US university five years ago, thrills the nation by announcing she is to return home.

10. Reverse brain drain? Nasa data scientist takes job in China

Marine data expert Li Zhijin, who has also worked for the US Navy and other government agencies, is now employed at a top university in Shanghai.

11. Top scientists join new-energy research push at Shanghai university


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Top Chinese-Australian scientists Dou Shixue and Liu Huakun join the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (USST) to help find ways for China to reduce its carbon emissions, USST president says.

12. Chinese-born maths genius leaves Harvard to help China become a powerhouse on subject

World-renowned Chinese mathematician Yau Shing-Tung announces his retirement from his position at Harvard University to teach full-time at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

[🇵🇰] History of Pashtun

Pashtun,

Pashtun,
ethnolinguistic group residing primarily in the region that lies between the Hindu Kush in northeastern Afghanistan and the northern stretch of the Indus River in Pakistan. The Pashtun constitute the largest ethnic group of the population of Afghanistan and bore the exclusive name of Afghan before that name came to denote any native of the present land area of Afghanistan.

The Pashtun are united primarily by a common language, Pashto. Other commonalities include Sunni Islam and a common social code (Pashtunwali) that governs both ethical behaviour and custom. The origins of the Pashtun are debated, including among the Pashtun themselves. One Pashtun tradition asserts that they are descended from Afghana, grandson of King Saul of Israel. Several Pashtun tribes are known to have moved from Afghanistan to Pakistan between the 13th and 16th centuries, and many Pashtun moved to northern Afghanistan after the formation of the modern Afghan state in the late 19th century.

Most Pashtun are sedentary farmers, combining cultivation with animal husbandry. Some are migratory herders and caravaners. Many Pashtun serve in the military. Smaller numbers hold political posts.

Kinship is the basis of Pashtun society. Each tribe, consisting of kinsmen who trace descent in the male bloodline from a common tribal ancestor, is divided into clans, subclans, and patriarchal families. Tribal genealogies establish rights of succession and inheritance and the right to use tribal lands and to speak in tribal council (jirga). Disputes over property, women, and personal injury often result in blood feuds between families and whole clans; these may be inherited unless settled by the intervention of clan chiefs or by tribal council.

There were estimated to be about 11 million Pashtun in Afghanistan and 25 million in Pakistan in the early 21st century. They comprise about 60 tribes of varying size and importance, each of which occupies a particular territory. In Afghanistan, where the Pashtun are the predominant ethnic group, the main tribes—or, more accurately, federations of tribes—are the Durrānī south of Kabul and the Ghilzay east of Kabul.

In Pakistan the Pashtun predominate north of Quetta between the Sulaiman Range and the Indus River. In the hill areas the main tribes are, from south to north, the Kākaṛ, Shērāni, and Ustarāna south of the Gumal River; the Maḥsūd, Darwēsh Khēl, Wazīrī, and Biṭanī between the Gumal River and Thal; the Tūrī, Bangash, Ōrakzay, Afrīdī, and Shinwārī from Thal to the Khyber Pass; and the Mahmand, Utmān Khēl, Tarklānī, and Yūsufzay north and northeast of the Khyber Pass.

The settled areas include lowland tribes subject to direct administration by the provincial government. The main tribes there are, from south to north, the Banūchī and Khaṭak, from the Kurram River to Nowshera, and the Khalīl and Mandāṇ in the Vale of Peshawar. The cities of Kandahār, Jalālābād, and Lashkar Gāh in Afghanistan and Peshawar and Quetta in Pakistan are important centres of Pashtun culture.
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