High altitudes give policemen higher spirits

Educational experience

Paiyike's old residence has been turned into an educational base showcasing the history of the Wakhan Corridor and the station, which was established in 1950.

Tourists need permission to go beyond the police station's checkpoint into the Chinese side of the corridor, a border area of special control. But they can visit the base for free to learn about the corridor and how several generations of the police station's officers have fulfilled their duties in harsh conditions.

In the yard of the old residence building stand two yurts, one decorated in the Tajik ethnic group style and the other in the Kirgiz style. This gives tourists who are not able to visit residents' homes the opportunity to experience local culture by having a look at the yurts, said Peng Mingyou, head of the station.

More than 60,000 people visited the base last year, said the native of Hunan province.

Peng, who has a dark reddish complexion and bloodshot eyes after working in southern Xinjiang for two decades to help ensure border security, has been the head of Paiyike for more than six years.

On a wooden board on the base's wall, many visitors have left their notes to acknowledge and appreciate the police station's efforts.

Peng, 41, said these notes make him value his days working at the police station more.

"It's a lifetime honor for us to have the opportunity to be stationed here to guard the country's border," he said.

Rescue and reward

Ding Jixiang, a 25-year-old who has worked at the station for almost five years, agreed.

Hailing from Henan province, Ding vividly recalled the night he arrived.

"My police cap was blown away by the winds soon after I got out of the car, and I had to chase it in the yard. It was really awkward," he said, admitting he felt anxious and considered quitting.

But the years of hard work have proved rewarding. Ding said his parents are impressed by how he has grown up.

On an evening in June 2023, the police station received an emergency call to help a 13-year-old boy who was trapped on a river bank by a flood. Peng led four other officers, including Ding, to rescue the child.

They had to walk through "a pasture with marshes" to get to the river, which was flowing very fast, Ding said, adding that one of his colleagues, Atabay Niyazhuja, volunteered to wade to the opposite side to reach the boy.

So the people secured a thick nylon rope on Atabay and held on to the rope tightly as he went across the river.

Atabay said the water reached his chest, and he slipped several times while stepping on the pebbles in the riverbed.

It was snowing. Atabay found his fingers frozen stiff after he climbed on the bank.

"I had to put them under my armpits to warm them up," he said.

Then he took his lighter out of his pocket, shook it dry and started a fire with it to keep the boy who "was about to pass out" from hypothermia.

While Atabay was talking to the boy and collecting cattle manure on the bank to keep the fire alive, his colleagues on the other side were busy making calls and sloshing across the wet pasture to coordinate rescue efforts.

It was shortly after 7 am the next day when they finally managed to get a wheel loader to carry the boy and the police officer to safety, Ding said.

Ding and Atabay said they were deeply moved that many colleagues in the station had stayed up all night worried about them, and that warm tea and a warm meal awaited them.

Ding, who is articulate and happy to share his stories, said he used to be very shy and reluctant to talk when he first came to Paiyike, but he now serves as a guide at the police station's educational base.

Most of the tourists visit the base during the warmer season from the end of March to early November every year, according to Ding.

He said that in November last year, a middle-aged couple of visitors insisted on giving him a pair of gloves after seeing his chapped hands caused by the cold and dryness.

Their generosity made him cry.

"They were about the same age as my parents," he said.

In the police station's sunroom, plants tended to by the officers are thriving.

Blooming camellia and bougainvillea are scattered among bushes. Lemons hang from branches, and plantain trees have grown so tall that their leaves bend against the roof.

They form a tropical scene full of life in stark contrast to the bare mountains encircling the station.

Peng takes special pride in the garden. "It is like the epitome of our spirit," he said. "The plants here are growing so fast. They are just like us, as we keep improving ourselves."

wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn