Stepping out of the vehicle at 3,620 meters above sea level, reporters Guo Ru and Sun Kexin barely managed a few steps before their breathing grew shallow and their lungs burned for air.
The oxygen level here sits at just six or seven percent of what it is at sea level, leaving an effective annual construction window of only six months. Yet, a dedicated team of engineers and builders has spent more than two years on this jagged ridge in Sichuan province’s Lixian county, driving the high-altitude project forward.
The site is home to the world’s highest-altitude ultra-high-voltage substation: the Aba 1000kV substation, perched near the summit of a towering peak in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture. Its exterior walls feature striking bands of white, grey, and red. As project supervisor Ye Zhizun explained during the joint media tour, each color carries deliberate symbolism: white represents the snow-capped mountains, grey mirrors the cloud cover, and red evokes a flying Party flag.
Retracing the Route of the Long March
From August to October 2026, State Grid Corporation of China’s State Grid Media, China Southern Power Grid’s CSG Media, and CHN Energy’s media arm joined forces for a special reporting tour commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army’s victory in the Long March, xwpx.com reported.
Reporters Guo and Sun traveled across high-altitude plateaus to trace the historic path of the Red Army, filing field notes for a special reporting initiative. Before embarking on the journey, terms like “snow mountains,” “marshlands,” and the “25,000-li trek” were familiar textbook markers. Standing on the ground, however, revealed the true weight of those historical milestones.
At Yuanshan Mountain in Songpan county’s Chuanzhusi town, a flight of 609 stone steps climbs to a Red Army memorial perched at 3,100 meters. Tour guides explain that the count corresponds to the more than 600 major and minor battles fought along the route. Each clash claimed the lives of wave after wave of young soldiers.
At the 41.3-meter-tall monument on the summit, a bronze-plated statue depicts a Red Army soldier raising both arms to form a “V” for victory. Guides pointed out a harrowing historical reality: the heaviest casualties during the Long March frequently fell on supply managers, cooks, and stretcher-bearers. Those guarding rations starved; those managing winter clothing froze; those hauling heavy loads exhausted themselves—all to preserve the survival of their comrades.
Connecting Past Sacrifice to Modern Infrastructure
Further along the route, the reporters met An Chengyong, vice principal of the Chuanzhusi town primary school and great-grandson of Revolutionary Martyr An Dengbang. Speaking about modern life in the region, An pointed to the bright, eye-protective lighting inside classrooms and the steady glow of streetlights winding through mountain villages.
The striking contrast between historical hardship and present-day stability resonated immediately with the reporting team, who watched children dash through ancient stone gateways in Xuecheng town while towering transmission pylons stretched silvery power lines across the horizon.
Today, engineering vehicles and portable oxygen tanks assist travelers crossing the mountain passes. Ninety years ago, however, teenage soldiers wearing single-layer tunics and straw sandals crossed freezing elevations and treacherous marshlands while carrying weapons and wounded comrades. Confronting those realities along the rugged mountain paths left the journalists breathless and tearful.
As the regional project teams continue operating in punishing conditions to maintain power grids across the highlands, the physical climb highlighted the endurance required to build modern infrastructure in terrain once deemed impassable.
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