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THE STEAM STALLION

As it hisses and judders and jangles along the subtropical mountain ridges of southern Sichuan, the little steam locomotive continues to make history more than fifty years after it was launched. It’s the last steam train that runs commercially in China – it is the only way out of the mountains to the outside for the inhabitants along the track – and the area itself is something of a time-warp: the town at the end of the line, once a mining town, holds gritty early-Industrialisation public buildings and workers’ tenements that have long disappeared elsewhere in China – even Mao Zedong’s revolutionary slogans survive on the facades of some buildings. There are no cars in town, making it strangely tranquil; occasional sounds are the rumble and whistles of the train (local people can tell the time by the passage of the train) and the clanging emanating from the blacksmith’s workshop.

The entire operation to run the train is still operated manually. Flags remain in use instead of signal lights, tracks are switched by manual levering, and every night starting at 3am an inspector sets out to walk along the entire length of track to ensure all is in order before the train sets off on its first run at 6am. The train is a wonderful piece of engineering, and it works like clockwork – it has not had a single accident for the past 35 years, and in that time it has made four runs every day without fail.

Yet the allure of the area is far wider than the train itself – the entire town has a historical fabric. It feels like a fifty-year-old time warp. The evocative early-industrial-era tenements where the inhabitants live are interspersed with some buildings displaying British architectural trimmings (the attic-windows high up on the slanting roofs built by British technicians who worked at the mine during the war) and some splashes of Russian architecture (the neo-Classical facades of the former administration buildings). Town life remains quaint, and the wonderful market is a mélange of stalls, including herbalists, dentists, and barbers. In the late afternoons the townsfolk tango or play mahjong in the town square that is ringed by the phantom buildings of another era: the auditorium and previous hospital.

Start & Finish: Chengdu

Trip Logistics: You need at least two days – or a weekend – to see the area in a round-trip from Chengdu. Two days is enough to see everything breezily; three days allows you to see everything at a measured pace, and four days gives you a chance to soak up the atmosphere a bit. Some activities you can do: ride the train a few times back and forth, hike up to the summit of a hill for a panoramic view of the old industrial town, visit an old defunct mine and the blacksmith (who makes spare parts for the train, also working with traditional tools), explore the old buildings of the town as well as the exotic market, and learn about the mechanical marvels that make the train run so reliably.

Accommodation: Accommodation is in a local guesthouse extended to a family home; rooms have attached bathroom.

Prices: Price can vary wildly depending on number of travellers, length of stay, and optional use of vehicle during your stay – you can travel in luxury in a private care, or make substantial savings and travel by public transport from Chengdu, accompanied by your personal travel consultant.

Weddings & Events: We can also arrange weddings or other special events on the train; in these cases a train will be chartered specifically for your group.

Terms & Conditions: For general terms and conditions that govern our tours and operation, and for Frequently Asked Questions, please see Nitty Gritty (FAQs).