www.bbc.co.uk Chinese President Hu Jintao opened the world's highest railway recently describing it as a "magnificent feat".
The Qinghai-Tibet line boasts high-tech engineering to stabilise tracks over permafrost and sealed cabins to protect passengers from the high altitude.
China says the 1,140km (710-mile) line will bring major opportunities to a poor region.
Mr Hu cut a red ribbon before the first train left Golmud in China's Qinghai province, carrying 900 passengers to the Tibetan capital, Llasa.
"This is a magnificent feat by the Chinese people, and also a miracle in world railway history," Mr Hu said.
He said it showed China's people were "ambitious, self-confident and capable of standing among the world's advanced nations".
Musicians in traditional Tibetan and Chinese dress banged drums and cymbals as thousands of workers who helped to build the line looked on.
Minutes later, state TV showed another train departing Lhasa for Golmud.
At its highest point, the railway will reach 5,072m (16,640ft) - beating by 225m a route through the Peruvian Andes that was previously the world's highest railway, the China Daily newspaper reports.
In parts, the train line has been built on bridges elevated above the most unstable permafrost.
Elsewhere, cooling pipes have been sunk into the ground to ensure it remains frozen to stabilise the tracks.
QINGHAI-TIBET RAILWAY
Connects Lhasa to existing China rail network
New 1,140km stretch cost $4.2bn
World's highest railway, reaching 5,072m
Oxygen to be pumped into each carriage
Restaurant car's rice cooked in pressure cookers, to mitigate effects of high altitude
Beijing to Lhasa to take 48 hours, cost $50-$160 one way
The train carriages have windows with ultra-violet filters to keep out the sun's glare, as well as carefully regulated oxygen levels with spare supplies to combat the thin air.
Zhu Zhensheng of the Chinese railway ministry called the new line a "major achievement" that will "hugely boost local development and benefit the local people". |