Unbelievable! He had gone through so much before getting on the train!

Some time ago

Cotton blossoms into a sea of ​​flowers

Xinjiang villages can be seen everywhere

Busy mechanized cotton harvesting scene

Topics related to Xinjiang cotton were once on the hot search

But you know what?

A cotton flower grows from maturity to

Finally, I took the train to all parts of the country

The middle has to go through layers of processing

Deseeding, compressing, packaging, drying...

Want to know the story behind Xinjiang cotton taking the train?

Listen to the editor carefully

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01

Why is Xinjiang’s cotton production the “largest in China”?

Xinjiang is the largest cotton-producing region in my country.

In 2020, cotton production accounted for 87.3% of the country's total production

This year, Xinjiang's cotton planting area is 37.18 million mu

The production is expected to reach about 5.2 million tons

Most of them need to be transported to the mainland by rail.

Cotton is subdivided into coarse-staple cotton, long-staple cotton, and fine-staple cotton. In Xinjiang, long-staple cotton and fine-staple cotton are the most planted. Xinjiang has unique natural conditions for cotton growth, with sufficient sunlight in summer and a large temperature difference between day and night. Therefore, the cotton produced is of high quality, with the advantages of long fiber, soft texture, white color, high strength, and good air permeability.

As one of the most important crops in the world, cotton has a large yield and low production cost. It can be made into fabrics of various specifications and is suitable for making all kinds of clothes, furniture fabrics and industrial fabrics. It is also a fine chemical raw material and an important strategic material.

Cotton planting begins in April every year, and the cotton growing period is from May to September. From late September to early November, large cotton pickers begin mechanized cotton picking. Currently, the cotton mechanization rate in Xinjiang has exceeded 85%. Cotton in various parts of Xinjiang has also entered an intense centralized processing stage.

02

What steps did Cotton go through before getting on the train?

Early winter

Xinjiang cotton transportation officially enters peak season

Spread across the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang

On the dedicated railway line of the cotton storage base

Forklifts shuttle back and forth

Load batches of cotton bales into

Waiting for the train on the railway siding

In fact, before the newly picked cotton flowers are turned into cotton bales, they must first enter the factory for deseeding. The cotton seeds are separated and the cotton wool is packed and compressed into 240 kg bales . After being left to rest for at least 7 days , they are then sent to the cotton supervision warehouse and cotton storage base.

Before being transported by rail, the cotton bales must be dried again on a dedicated line in the railway freight yard. The drying time for cotton is 24 hours in winter and 72 hours in summer.

After drying, railway freight handlers must conduct batch re-inspections, mainly focusing on the bundling of cotton bundles, timely repair and gluing of broken or damaged bales, and checking the moisture regain value. If the moisture regain exceeds 10%, the bales will not be loaded onto the truck to prevent spontaneous combustion.

03

How does railroad transport cotton?

Cotton is used to produce protective clothing, cotton balls, cotton swabs , etc.

Primary raw materials for medical supplies

During the epidemic prevention and control period

Textile, health and medical enterprises across the country

Urgent need for large quantities of cotton

Xinjiang cotton with high quality and sufficient stock

Become the first choice for procurement by enterprises around the world

As the demand for cotton continues to rise across the country, and it is the cotton harvest season soon, China Railway Urumqi Bureau Group Co., Ltd. has increased its transportation efforts for Xinjiang cotton, unblocked the transportation channels for cotton out of Xinjiang, and made every effort to ensure market supply.

The transportation of new cotton is busy, and the railway is responsible. In the first 10 months of this year, the bureau group company shipped a total of 2.42 million tons of cotton. From the beginning of November to November 20, the Urumqi Bureau Group Company has transported more than 200,000 tons of new cotton.

In early November, after the transportation of new cotton began this year, in order to ensure the absolute safety of cotton transportation, the Urumqi Bureau Group Company, based on the characteristics of winter transportation and the flammable nature of cotton, arranged dedicated personnel to be responsible for each link of all cotton loading stations and strictly implemented the fire safety management system.

Before loading the cotton into the boxcar, the workers first seal and reinforce the interior and windows of the car with plastic sheets, and pave the floor of the car with corrugated paper to ensure that the interior of the car is clean and dry.

After loading, the operators sealed the door gaps with foam glue to prevent fire during transportation. Before the train started, the operators and managers conducted a double check to ensure that the transportation was safe.

The Urumqi Bureau Group Company has always given priority to the transportation capacity of cotton transportation, improved the upstream and downstream production and marketing supply and demand of enterprises, and built a channel for the export of Xinjiang cotton. "I feel very proud to see truckloads of cotton from my hometown being transported to all parts of the country by train!" Dai Wuran Talip, a freight forwarder at the Kashgar Freight Center, exclaimed.

Xinjiang cotton harvest is now nearing completion

From the busy and spectacular mechanized cotton picking scene

Then to the meticulous railway transportation of new cotton

It turns out that cotton really got on the train

Need to "pass the level" again and again

Cotton pickers roared and trains whistled as they passed by.

Full of cotton farmers' happiness expectations

To empower Xinjiang's economic development

Bringing warmth to all parts of the country

Planning: Sun Xiaoyuan Duan Xingyi

Source: Xinjiang Reporter Station of People's Railway Newspaper Co., Ltd. (Urumqi Bureau Group Corporation Media Integration Center)

Text: Guan Yongjun and Zhang Lidan

Photos: Guan Yongjun, Yang Le, Yang Xiaoli, Kang Taiyun

Video: Duan Xingyi, Yang Le, Mutailipu, Muhetardaiwuran, Talipu

Editor: Duan Xingyi