LANZHOU, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- "You have entered the high-rise mountain section of Wenxian County, the slope is steep and the bends are sharp, so you must reduce your speed and pay attention to safety. On a cold winter night, Ma Maicheng and his colleagues drove a mobile patrol on the Gaoloushan section of National Highway 212, reminding passing vehicles to slow down.
Gaolou Mountain is located in Wen County, Longnan City, Gansu Province, the mountain is like a high-rise building, with an average altitude of 2151 meters and the highest peak of 4187 meters. The more than 30-kilometer section of the high-rise mountain section under the jurisdiction of the Linjiang Squadron of the Traffic Police Brigade of the Wenxian County Public Security Bureau is called the "Twelve Turns" because of the steep slope and sharp bends, and it is one of the difficult sections of the National Highway 212. If you drive here, you may encounter dangerous situations if you are not careful.
The summer of 2023 is the peak tourist season. A Shanghai tourist and his family drove to Jiuzhaigou to play, due to the unfamiliar road conditions, coupled with the wet road in rainy days, the vehicle drove to the "twelve turns" section of Gaoloushan and overturned, and 4 people in the car were trapped, including 1 child. At about 1 o'clock in the morning of the same day, after receiving the alarm, Gong Jiangyong, a police officer of the Linjiang Squadron, and his colleagues quickly arrived at the scene to successfully carry out the rescue, and contacted the crane to properly dispose of the damaged vehicle. Subsequently, Gong Jiangyong used a police car to safely transfer the tourists to the Linjiang Town Hotel for rest, and enthusiastically helped them contact the tourist bus to Jiuzhaigou the next day.
On January 9, at the "12 turns" of the Gaoloushan Road section of Wenxian County on National Highway 212, Ma Maicheng (second from right), captain of the Linjiang Squadron of the Traffic Police Brigade of the Wenxian Public Security Bureau of Longnan City, Gansu Province, and Gong Jiangyong (first from right), a police officer, gave safety tips to the drivers of heavy trucks. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lang Bingbing.
On the high-rise mountain, there are many heavy semi-trailer trucks pulling ore, coal, cement, etc. to and from Wenxian County, which is easy to cause traffic accidents after rain and snow.
Ma Maicheng, the captain of the Linjiang squadron, is well aware of his heavy responsibility, he said, if a large truck has an accident in the Gaoloushan section, it is easy to cause traffic jams on the whole line, and long-term congestion will cause dissatisfaction among tourists, in addition to dealing with traffic accidents, they must also learn to appease the emotions of tourists.
In June 2023, a heavy-duty semi-trailer more than 10 meters long overturned at the "12th turn" of Gaolou Mountain, blocking the entire national highway, unable to even pass motorcycles, and nearly 100 vehicles were stranded in both directions. After receiving the police, Ma Maicheng took 2 team members and rushed to the scene as soon as possible.
This is an aerial photograph of the corner of the "Twelve Turns" of the Gaoloushan Road section of Wenxian County on National Highway 212. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Li Dong).
Since the driver of the truck did not call the police immediately after the accident, a tourist called the police after a traffic jam for several hours. While waiting for the crane to arrive at the scene, Ma Maicheng patiently calmed the emotions of the tourists while guiding the stranded vehicles. "When traffic resumed, every driver would either honk or wave their hands, and some children would lie on the window and salute us, saying that you have worked hard, uncle, policeman, and we were very moved. Ma Maicheng said.
This year, the highway connecting Wudu District of Longnan City and Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan is about to open to traffic, and since then, tourists from Gansu, Shaanxi and other places will no longer need to go over the "twelve turns" of Gaolou Mountain to Jiuzhaigou.
Liu Shao, head of the traffic police detachment of the Longnan Public Security Bureau, introduced that the mountains and ravines in Longnan are deep, the roads are rugged and narrow, and the roads near the water and cliffs, steep slopes and sharp bends account for 78% of the mileage of all roads.
After the opening of the Wujiu Expressway, the number of vehicles climbing the Gaolou Mountain will be reduced a lot, and the number of accidents will also be reduced, which is good news, but we will continue to stick to it and escort the vehicles. Ma Maicheng said.
Reporter Zhang Xinxin, Lang Bingbing).