Desolate army patrols along China’s Qinghai-Tibet Railway and Highway

Soldiers from China’s Qinghai Armed Police Corps patrol have been mounting lonely patrols along a railway and highway on the Tibetian Plateau, the world’s highest and largest plateau. Chinese state media recently broadcast a report about a patrol on what is also known as the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, covering the soldiers keeping watch over a line that extends over 100km (60 miles) at altitudes up to 5,000 metres (16,400ft) above sea level. Crossing the desolate expanse are the Qinghai-Tibet Railway and Highway, transport arteries that pass through mostly uninhabited areas in western China, including Hoh Xil, a Unesco World Heritage Site.