Party History Study and Education | The ice and snow fear no strong winds or bitter cold—without even needing a whip, they eagerly set forth on their own.

From September 20 to 28, 1955, the National Conference of Young Socialist Construction Activists was held in Beijing. Zhou Enlai specially inscribed a message for the conference: “Strive hard and never fear difficulties.” Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, young people across the country were widely mobilized and organized. They carried forward the spirit of hard work and courage in the face of adversity, sparking a vigorous upsurge in the struggle for socialism and making tremendous contributions to the nation’s construction during the First Five-Year Plan period.
Recently, the Party branch for electrical prospecting at the Geophysical Exploration Company held a brief Party history lecture themed “Though faced with icy winds and bitter cold, we forge ahead without waiting for the whip to spur us on.”

Branch Secretary Wang Anping gave a detailed explanation and study session on “Zhou Enlai’s inscription for the National Conference of Young Socialist Construction Pioneers in September 1955.” Starting in 1953, China began implementing its First Five-Year Plan for the development of the national economy. In the course of carrying out socialist construction according to the First Five-Year Plan, a large number of young pioneers—full of boundless enthusiasm for socialism and strongly motivated to make progress—emerged across the country. Thanks to the concerted efforts and unremitting struggles of the entire Party and all ethnic groups throughout the country, by the end of 1957, all targets set forth in the First Five-Year Plan had been significantly overachieved, yielding remarkable accomplishments. These achievements laid the preliminary foundation for socialist industrialization and accumulated valuable experience for socialist construction.

Since October 2018, Wang Anping has been primarily responsible for the survey and exploration work on tunnels for the Sichuan-Tibet Railway. During this period, he has witnessed many touching stories of individuals who are unafraid of hardship and bravely rise to challenges. He would like to take this opportunity to share these inspiring stories with everyone.

When the ice and snow strike.

When working on the C2K plan for the Kangding Tunnel, He Weifeng was the leader of the field production team. One day, as he and his colleagues set off from the base of the mountain at an altitude of 3,300 meters, the sun was blazing brightly. They trudged forward with difficulty, stepping on the slippery, yellowish-green vegetation. Just as they were about to reach the summit, a sudden gust of wind swept through, and the sky began to darken rapidly. “Oh no, it’s going to snow!” someone in the team exclaimed. Before the words had even finished echoing, hailstones the size of soybeans started falling from the sky, hitting everyone’s hats and bodies.

The mountain slope was steep, nearly 40 degrees, making it impossible to descend. And there wasn’t a single sheltered spot on the mountainside either. He Weifeng said to Langzhi, the Tibetan young man: “Quickly, look for the plastic sheet in your backpack!” The group quickly found a relatively wind-sheltered spot and used stones to weigh down one end of the plastic sheet, while holding the other end up with their hands. Six people huddled tightly together beneath the plastic sheet, which covered an area of less than two square meters. The snowfall grew denser and denser; tiny ice pellets the size of soybeans rattled noisily against the plastic sheet. Combined with the strong wind, within moments everyone’s clothes were completely covered in white, and they began to shiver uncontrollably. It was only then that they realized they hadn’t had lunch yet. “Let’s take out our food and eat while we still can,” He Weifeng suggested. Each person received two baked flatbreads, one bag of dried tofu, one bag of pickled mustard greens, and two slices of ham sausage—this made up their entire lunch.

An hour later, the snow and ice gradually stopped. He Weifeng said, “It’s still early, and there aren’t many measurement points left. Let’s all step up our efforts and get today’s task done.” “No problem,” everyone replied in unison.

Tapping his already numb feet, He Weifeng and his colleague hoisted the instruments onto their backs and began climbing toward the mountaintop, step by step.

While traversing the jungle

The CK412+000 to CK415+740 section of the Gaosi Tunnel spans a horizontal distance of 3.7 km and features an elevation difference of up to 1,200 meters. The terrain is steep with intense cutting, and some sections consist of sheer cliffs. Moreover, the tunnel slopes toward the shaded mountain side and is densely covered with shrubs and thorny bushes. While crossing the valley, the project team members had to contend with swiftly flowing rivers. Enduring the icy cold water, they carefully and steadily advanced step by step, successfully completing the surveying task for this section.

These two examples are just a glimpse of the daily work involved in the exploration and surveying project for the Sichuan-Tibet Railway tunnels. Geophysical explorers embody exactly this spirit: despite the lack of oxygen, they remain full of enthusiasm; though faced with harsh conditions, they never compromise on standards; at high altitudes, their aspirations soar even higher. With an optimistic and positive mindset, they bravely overcome all kinds of difficulties and challenges encountered in their work.

Although this brief Party history lecture was not very long, it has greatly inspired and boosted the morale of the Party members in the Electrical Prospecting Party Branch, strengthening their convictions. In their future work, they will be even more confident and empowered, further demonstrating the exemplary and leading role of Party members and making new contributions to the development of the Geophysical Exploration Company!

Executive Producer | Zhang Guangda

Reviewed by | Zhou Huiying

Text | Wang Anping

Figure | Jia Jianchao, Wang Anping

Editor | Wen Han