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September 23rd 2005 The morning departure from Nanpiao. Nanpiao is around 200 miles north of Beijing, built mainly to service the coalmines of two valleys in the area. It also has a twice daily passenger service to each branch. |
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| Just drink in the atmosphere! The second morning departure passes Zaojiatun mine, slowing to a crawl on the severe gradient. |
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| Being a Chinese coalminer is statistically the least safe job in the world. A large part of this is down to small unregulated mines such as this that spring up in all the major coalfields. Working the coal that the larger mines find uneconomical, they are inevitably shoestring operations, with safety hardly a priority. The Nanpiao district, as well as featuring a half dozen or so large mines, must have scores of these smaller operations. |