Workers weather desert extremes to complete "power expressway loop" in southern Xinjiang

A drone photo shows Chen Lin (R) operating at a construction site in Minfeng County, of Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 13, 2025. China has finished construction of a 4,197-km extra-high voltage power transmission loop around the Tarim Basin, home to the country's largest desert, marking a major infrastructure milestone in southern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. 

The final section of the 750-kilovolt (kV) loop, now the country's largest of its kind, was connected on Sunday, capping a 15-year project involving nine substations and nearly 10,000 steel towers, according to a subsidiary of State Grid Xinjiang Electric Power Co., Ltd., which constructed the project.

The transmission line passes through extreme terrain, from the shifting sands of the desert to the high altitudes of the Kunlun Mountains.

Chen Lin arrived in March this year at the southern edge of the Taklimakan Desert, where he, side by side with over 40 colleagues, accomplished part of the transmission line construction work despite sandy gusts and scorching temperature. (Photo by Zhang Limin/Xinhua)

A drone photo shows Chen Lin (R) operating on a power transmission tower at a construction site in Minfeng County, of Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 13, 2025.(Photo by Zhang Limin/Xinhua)

Chen Lin (4th L) chats with his colleagues during a break at a construction site in Minfeng County, of Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 10, 2025.(Photo by Zhang Limin/Xinhua)

Chen Lin is pictured after work at a construction site in Minfeng County, of Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 13, 2025.(Photo by Zhang Limin/Xinhua)

A drone photo shows Chen Lin (R) operating on a power transmission tower at a construction site in Minfeng County, of Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 13, 2025.(Photo by Zhang Limin/Xinhua)

A drone photo shows Chen Lin (R) having lunch on a power transmission tower at a construction site in Minfeng County, of Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 13, 2025.(Photo by Zhang Limin/Xinhua)

Chen Lin makes a video call with his wife Wang Li at his dormitory room in Minfeng County, of Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 10, 2025.(Photo by Zhang Limin/Xinhua)

A drone photo shows Chen Lin drinking water while operating on a power transmission tower at a construction site in Minfeng County, of Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 13, 2025.(Photo by Zhang Limin/Xinhua)

Night-shift workers operate on the extra-high voltage power transmission loop around the Tarim Basin over the Hotan-Ruoqiang railway in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, early July 10, 2025.(Photo by Ma Yuan/Xinhua)

A drone photo shows Chen Lin (R) operating on a power transmission tower at a construction site in Minfeng County, of Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 12, 2025.(Photo by Zhang Limin/Xinhua)

A drone photo shows Chen Lin (1st R) operating on a power transmission tower at a construction site in Minfeng County, of Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 12, 2025.(Photo by Zhang Limin/Xinhua)

Chen Lin (L) poses for a selfie with his colleagues after work at a construction site in Minfeng County, of Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 13, 2025.(Photo by Zhang Limin/Xinhua)

Chen Lin (R) works with his colleague at a construction site in Minfeng County, of Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, early July 10, 2025.(Photo by Zhang Limin/Xinhua)