China in 1999

In February 1999 I went on, another, holiday of a life time. I spent a little over 2 weeks travelling around China with 2 Australian friends and an excellent Chinese guide (this link opens a new window.) We primarily went in search of "real" working steam but also got to experience the Chinese New Year, the freezing cold and a few of the important historical sites. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip, and the food, and would recommend it to anyone. Go before it is too late - mainline working will not last much longer. We organised our trip through the China Liaoning Steam Locomotive Photographic Association . They come highly recommended and can be contacted at lslpafj@pub.ln.cninfo.net

After a quick visit to the narrow gauge line at Dahuichang we moved to Jingpeng for a week of almost unbroken blue skies and wall to wall steam !! From Jingpeng we moved to Baotou, then on to Dongsheng before making our way to Chengde and eventually back to Beijing. It was perhaps not the ideal way round to do things but we were constrained by the fact the Chinese New Year fell half way through our visit.

Please click on the following links to find out more about the places I visited.

Dahuichang
Jingpeng 
Baotou
04 at the quarry
2 QJs cross the river near Reshui
QJs passing on the mainline west of Baotou station

Dongsheng 
Chengde
Beijing & the Tourist Sites
2 QJs banked by a third climb towards Dongsheng with a heavy coal train
A SY struggles up the steel works branch at Chengde
The Forbidden City