Tracking the Heavenly Road, Entering Golmud in Qinghai, Listening to the Story of 'One Person, One Road, One City'

One person, one road, one city!

Over the years, I've grown accustomed to recording the bits and pieces of life, the beautiful moments of travel, and the stories of meeting you.

Among my many essays, there is this passage: In Golmud, there is a museum dedicated to one road and one person. That road is the 'Heavenly Road,' and that person is General Mu Shengzhong. He led the construction army to open this highway on the frozen soil of high altitude—a task of such difficulty that it was rarely seen anywhere in the world. This Heavenly Road is the highway from Xining to Lhasa, the shortest and busiest route to Tibet, passable all year round. This is what I recorded during my recent visit to the General's Mansion Park in Golmud. What made it so memorable were the comments from netizens.

Gansu H: I went to Golmud last year. The city is quite well built. Standing beneath the Heavenly Road Monument, gazing up at the old general, my heart was long stirred by those years of hardship. Wishing our motherland prosperity and the people a better life!

Shaanxi Ding: I was fortunate to meet General Mu Shengzhong as a child. At that time, he had already retired and came to Baoji to visit my grandfather. I only thought he was an ordinary old man with a strong Shaanxi accent. After growing up and reading his memoirs and watching TV series, I realized he is such a venerable old general! I must go to Golmud! Thank you, Xiao Chen!

Anhui Eagle: On June 30 of that year, construction started, and five years later on July 1, the road opened. I even carried bricks there.

Chongqing Liu Xin: Paying tribute to the pioneers who built the Qinghai-Tibet Heavenly Road!

Gansu Wei: It seems fated that General Mu built the Heavenly Road, because his ancestors, the Tuyuhun Murong clan, once lived in Qinghai.

Shaanxi Wenzhang: Did General Mu lead the soldiers and officers to build the Heavenly Road? The monument built in memory of General Mu holds historical significance.

Henan Yimeng: The soldier city of Golmud is beautiful. Too bad I haven't been there—I've only been to Xining, Qinghai Lake, Tar Temple, and 'the Yellow River in Guide is the clearest under heaven.'

Hubei E: Truly a loyal soul of road construction.

We arrived at the General's Mansion Park in the afternoon. This is not just a park; it is a monument! Every landscape, every small detail here embodies the geography, history, and culture of Golmud, and condenses the arduous struggle of generations of Golmud builders...

This is a two-story cave-style building, where the general once worked and lived—a bed, a lamp, a desk... Here, our thoughts are carried back to those years.

The General's Mansion Park has become more and more beautiful over the years, surrounded by flowers all year round. Many people who come to Golmud make this a must-visit stop.

At the entrance of the park, this landmark building soaring into the sky, shaped like the Chinese character 'ren' (人), is the Heavenly Road Monument. It represents the highway and railway leading to Lhasa. Looking up from below, it resembles an indomitable steel giant. Below the monument lies a huge topographic map—this is the full topographic map of Qinghai Province. I searched for the location of Golmud City.

Golmud is China's 'largest' county-level city, with an area larger than the entire province of Zhejiang, equivalent to 3,626 Macaus.

Major General Mu Shengzhong of the People's Liberation Army, the father of the Qinghai-Tibet Highway, built 1,283 kilometers of road in 7 months and 4 days—a miracle!

The 300-kilometer highway from Golmud to Hoh Xil was successfully opened on July 30 of that year, taking only 79 days.

Before the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Highway, Golmud was just an empty expanse. General Mu Shengzhong, while directing the construction of the highway, incidentally established the town.

Golmud—a city built because of one person. The story behind it is deeply moving.