The route from China into Kazakhstan goes through the border station Dostyk, where customs checks and train changes can take up to several hours. Passengers can take advantage of the break to walk about the place. Not that there is much to see in the wind-blown town. Dostyk’s “main street” consists of little more than several low-slung bungalows over a large, unpopulated square. Even if it is hard to fathom, and few living there may realize it, Dostyk became a major center for East-West transportation.

On this day, September 16, in 1990 a major railway linking China to Kazakhstan was completed, with a formal ceremony in the town of Dostyk.

With China’s rise as a major manufacturing center, the railway gained importance beyond its builders wildest hopes. Some 20% of cargo between Europe and Asia now goes via that railways — some 15.5 million tons in 2009 alone. In terms of importance, it can be compared to the ancient Silk Roads.