Fledgling technician is training for success

La Thor, a young technician who helps maintain a section of the China-Laos Railway in Luang Prabang, a popular tourism destination in Laos, is proud of his work and happy with his life. "My family is very proud of me and my work. They have been very supportive," he said.

He added that all the satisfaction in his professional and personal lives is due to the China-Laos Railway, a 1,035-kilometer electrified line linking Kunming, capital of Southwestern China's Yunnan province with Vientiane, capital of Laos.

The line started operations in December 2021, but a cross-border passenger service was introduced in April. Now, bullet trains run in both directions between Kunming and Vientiane, cutting the one-way journey time to 10 1/2 hours.

As a railway technician, Thor earns a decent salary. "It is at the medium-to-high level in Laos," he said. His earnings have enabled his family to build a new house in their home village, and he uses a new smartphone.

Thor hails from a rural village in a mountainous area. Even now, it takes about 5 to 6 hours to travel to his home by bus from Luang Prabang city. He has nine brothers and sisters, and he is the youngest sibling. All his family members, including his siblings and parents, live by planting crops at home, mainly corn and rice.

"Working for the China-Laos Railway is a dream job for many young people in Laos, including me. When construction of the railway began, I was aware of it and always dreamed of working for it," the 23-year-old said, adding that he was in high school during the line's initial stages.

After graduating from high school, he worked a number of odd jobs during the summer, helping with the railway's construction.

When the summer holiday ended, Thor became a freshman at the Souphanouvong University in Luang Prabang.

Thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative and the China-Laos Railway, the university and the Shanghai Institute of Technology have established a cooperation program to train Laotian students in China. The young people study at Souphanouvong University for one year before spending three years in China.

So, after a year in Luang Prabang, Thor and eight of his peers arrived in Shanghai at the end of 2017 as the first class from the program to receive a college education in railway engineering.

In China, Thor visited the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, the first railway designed and built solely by Chinese people. There, he learned about Zhan Tianyou, the engineer responsible for the line's construction in 1905-09, who was known as Jeme Tien-Yow at the time.

"I visited the museum and learned so much about him. I felt that he was such a great man, which inspired me to study harder and learn more about railways. Zhan is known as the 'Father of China's Railways' for his contribution to the sector. The China-Laos Railway is the first modern railway in my country, and I want to become the Zhan Tianyou of Laos," Thor said.

In 2019, he took his first trip on a high-speed railway when he rode the bullet train from Shanghai to Beijing.

"It was so stable, even more comfortable than taking a plane," he said, comparing the experience with the trip from Luang Prabang to Shanghai. "We put a coin on the window ledge while the train was in motion. It didn't move. It was so steady," he said, adding that the flight from Luang Prabang to Shanghai was also his first trip by air.

Duan Mengfei, Thor's mentor at work, said he is a diligent worker who asks many questions. "He won't stop asking questions until he has really figured out every step at work," Duan said. He usually takes Thor into the field to learn the theoretical side through practical experience of their daily job checking a section of the track to ensure the trains' safe operation.

Thor's family members have not yet had an opportunity to ride the train, but he hopes to take them to China by rail one day.