CHINA-XINJIANG-TAJIK TRAIN CONDUCTOR (CN)

(240502) -- URUMQI, May 2, 2024 (Xinhua) -- Airkir Duliki (1st L) helps passengers board a train from Chengdu to Kashgar at a railway station in Guangyuan, southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 20, 2024. Airkir Duliki, the 27-year-old ethnic Tajik train conductor, was born and raised amidst the snow-capped mountains and grasslands in a village of Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County on the Pamir Plateau, where railways were not common for residents in the past. Airkir's initial experience with train travel occurred when she journeyed to Urumqi for university in Xinjiang. Accompanied by her father, she traversed over 300 kilometers of mountainous terrain from their village to reach the nearest Kashgar train station. Inspired by the first train journey, Airkir pursued a career in the railway sector after graduating from university in 2019. Since then, she has served as a train attendant on routes, linking Kashgar of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Chengdu of southwest China's Sichua