BEIJING, July 10 (ChinaMil) -- According to the report of China Railway's Wechat official account, the China Railway's Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company launched the Y981/982 tour train on Monday. The train runs between Xi'ning, capital city of northwest China's Qinghai province and the " Plant 221", China's first research base of nuclear weapons and a prohibited military zone in the past.
Located in the Jinyintan Grassland in the Haibei prefecture of Qinghai with an altitude of 3,085 meters, the "Plant 221" is the first nuclear weapons R&D base built by China, and the birthplace of China's first atomic bomb and first hydrogen bomb. Hence it is known as “China’s Atomic City”.
In 1987, China decided to decommission this nuclear base. And in 1993 it was handed over to the local government of Qinghai and renamed “Xihai Town”.
As the cradle of China’s atomic energy science and nuclear industry, the nuclear base that has been retired for 31 years has an epoch-making status in the history of development of the People's Republic of China. At present, the seven factories where the atomic bomb and the hydrogen bomb were developed, and infrastructures with an area of 570 km² are well preserved.
The Y981 train departs from Xining at 7:00 a.m. and arrives at the Xihai Town at 8:20 a.m. on the morning, while the Y982 train pulls out of the Xihai Town railway station on 16:55 p.m. and arrives at the Xi'ning railway station on 18:12 p.m. on the evening from July 9 to July 31. The running schedule for August and the following months has not been determined, according to the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company.