By Xinhua writers Xue Yanwen, Hu Huhu, and Su Chuanyi
URUMQI, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Cradled by the snow-capped peaks of the Kunlun Mountains, a team of workers sweat on a 3,500-meter high hillside, with the rumble of drills echoing around the Akhazi mountain pass.
Song Wanlian, 50, is one of the few female power-tower builders in the area. She works on a cliff so steep that one must cling to the rocks even when sitting down.
As her colleagues dig the pylon foundations, Song moves mindfully from pit to pit, hauling rubble. While one hand lifts each bucket, her other tightly grips the rope tied to the bucket. Ignoring what's beyond the cliff, she focuses on the task at hand.
The pits that hold the giant transmission towers, which are part of a 100-kilometer overhead power network, can go to depths of 10 meters. One of the communities set to benefit from this massive project is Xihxu, home to some 350 herder families that currently grapple with unstable power generated by solar photovoltaic panels.
The residents of Xihxu are not alone. Remote townships and villages across northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region are soon to be connected to the power grid.
It's no easy task. The Kunlun Mountains alone pose a big challenge.
"The rocks are a pain," said Wang Zebin, 61, a seasoned miner who sometimes can barely finish 30 centimeters a day.
"We have tried controlled explosions. The only efficient way is to use an air compressor, but the air here is too thin," he said.
The work is hard, but it pays well. Wang's payment is measured by meters.
The next step, erecting the pylon, is not any easier. On flatter land, the tower is usually assembled and hoisted by a crane. But here, people can barely stand, let alone large machines, so they have to construct all 396 pylons in situ.
No vehicle can deliver supplies to the construction site, so 54 cableways have been installed on Akhazi that haul construction materials and water and food for the workers.
Huang Guosheng manages the cableway deliveries. He has worked in this industry for 12 years, but he has never worked at such heights, and he had severe insomnia due to the altitude sickness.
At noon, Huang distributes lunch, and the team sits down on the slopes to eat. The meal might be simple, but the view was magnificent -- deep valleys below and skies for days overhead. Meal breaks, however, must be brief, as wind and dust can come out of nowhere.
"Weather changes a lot here. It's usually windy in the afternoon. Sometimes the wind is so strong that we can't stand," said Huang.
Once the towers are up, Liu Zelin, 43, and his colleagues install the all-important power lines. As if porting the wires was not hard enough, they had to climb up and down the rocky mountain faces. Wiremen have to replace their gloves every day, said Liu.
The 290-million-yuan (about 41 million U.S. dollars) Xihxu power project started in August, 2019, and is expected to complete by June.
"Our work is not only about making our bread and butter but about helping improve local villagers' lives. It's worthwhile," said Huang.
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