Launched in December 2021, the China-Laos Railway (CLR) has created ample opportunities for the development of Laos' crop production, food processing, and manufacturing. A powerful booster to infrastructure connectivity and trade relations between the two countries, the rail project has also opened a door for young people in Laos through vocational training and education cooperation, strengthening the bonds of friendship between the two peoples.
Dream Come True
Maintenance personnel with the CLR, 24-year-old Sida Phengphongsawanhss hails from Meng Xay, capital of Oudomxay Province of Laos. She has been eager to experience the outside world since she was a child. In 2015, when teenager Sida first learned on the internet that China was going to build a railway in her hometown, she made up her mind to find a way to work for the railroad. Due to her hard work learning Chinese, Sida obtained the opportunity to study in China.
Studying abroad was not easy. For Sida, who started learning Chinese from scratch, pronunciation was particularly difficult. Fortunately, with the help of her Chinese classmates, she endured the struggling days of a beginner and quickly acclimatized herself to living in China. A classmate from Zhaotong, Yunnan Province, not only lent a helping hand on her study, but also spent a lot of time shopping and traveling with her and helping her try different food. Thanks to her caring Chinese teachers and friends, Sida succeeded in coping with homesickness and finding comfort in the campus life. After a year of study in China, she passed the Chinese Proficiency Test Level 4, equivalent to the intermediate level.
After graduating from Yunnan Vocational College of Mechanical and Electrical Technology, Sida was recruited as one of the first employees of the CLR. In September 2020, she enrolled on a training program for train maintenance and repair, which was a whole new realm for her. She found the technical work quite demanding and fast-paced and learning the railway-related terms in Chinese particularly challenging. Again, with the careful instruction of Chinese technicians and generous help of her colleagues, Sida completed the internship for the maintenance training program.
In 2021, Sida officially joined the locomotive crew of the CLR. Her team was mainly responsible for the routine check and maintenance of electric locomotives running along the Lao section.
In the early days of working as a train maintenance technician, Sida had felt some lingering doubt from surrounding people. In Laos, technical work is conventionally considered dominated by men while women seem more suitable for wearing tube skirts and sitting in the office. But Sida rejected the gender stereotype. Her genuine efforts and outstanding performance at work changed the views of others. After two years of working on the CRL, she not only became competent in train maintenance but was also assigned more complex technical tasks because of her detail-driven work style and strong abilities.
"It's the coolest thing for girls to work as technicians," exclaimed Sida during an interview with Xinhua News Agency of China in October 2023. Her personal experience made her believe that there should be no limits to women's career development and that women are also capable of technical work.
Sida is not alone. Inspiring stories like hers have emerged since the start of CLR construction in 2016.
Friendship Between Teachers and Students
Kunming Railway Vocational and Technical College in China's Yunnan Province has also been a hub of friendship between China and Laos.
In April 2019, China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) approved the Aid to Laos Railway Vocational and Technical College, with educational capacity building and educational technology cooperation as part of the project. In August 2021, Kunming Railway Vocational and Technical College, located in the Kunming Area of China (Yunnan) Pilot Free Trade Zone, was assigned a seven-year training program aimed to help Laos establish a mature railway personnel development system.
At the beginning of 2022, 40 select Lao trainees started studying at Kunming Railway Vocational and Technical College. With varied Chinese proficiency levels, some were teachers equipped with railway-related knowledge while others were inexperienced college graduates. These students signed up for the aid project as soon as it was launched and endured a lengthy selection process before earning the rare opportunity to study in Kunming. They all aspired to apply expertise they learned in China to railway development in their home country.
During their studies in Kunming, the Lao trainees showed a positive attitude about learning. Despite language barriers in the early days, they often requested after-class tutoring, which gave their teachers a greater sense of mission to provide better instruction. A close friendship developed between the trainers and trainees. When two of the students got married, their teachers at Kunming Railway Vocational and Technical College were invited to attend their traditional wedding in Laos. The teachers and students still kept in touch after the 40 Lao trainees completed their study in Kunming and returned to their country in August 2023. The faculty of Kunming Railway Vocational and Technical College often received greetings from their Lao students.
Over the past two years, China has trained more than 800 Lao railway personnel including 66 pioneering train conductors on the CLR. In 2023, the Chinese-aided Lao Railway Vocational and Technical College in Vientiane began to enroll students, and the 40 graduates from Kunming Railway Vocational and Technical College started their teaching career at the school dedicated to cultivating future generations of Lao railway professionals. Students at the school can study in either Vientiane or Kunming or both.
The CLR project connects not only two countries but also the hearts of Chinese and Lao people. The bonds of China-Laos friendship will continue to strengthen along the cross-border railroad.