2024 - Prayer flags of light - in memory of a great railway

On the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, there exists a railway line that can be called the peak of the world, a magnificent miracle in the history of human engineering. To build this enduring monument, countless brave workers have sweated and even sacrificed their precious lives here. However, as time passes, the once-glorious Guanjiao railway line is now facing silence and oblivion.

To honor the workers who lost their lives for the railway construction and rejuvenate this scenic railway line, we have planned a unique commemorative project. Inspired by the colorful light, we cleverly reconstructed the local unique Jingfan (memorial flags) with the help of dichroic mirrors, aiming to create a brand-new commemorative tourist route.

We carefully selected five colors that are highly revered in the region – white, blue, red, yellow, and green. These colors not only represent the regional and ethnic characteristics, but also complement the magnificent scenery along the way. Through calculations and experiments by our team, combined with local lighting parameters, we designed dichroic mirrors capable of separating these five colors and ingeniously hung them on the existing railway poles along the route.

As the train slowly passes by, these hanging dichroic mirrors will cast colorful beams of light into the carriages, as if countless flags of light are fluttering inside, silently telling the stories of those heroic workers who sacrificed their lives. Meanwhile, due to the fascinating phenomenon of persistence of vision, outside the train windows, there will also form streaks of flowing light flags, adding a touch of moving color to this plateau.

On the occasion of the 18th anniversary of the opening of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, we hope to continue writing a modern and touching story for this great railway line through this innovative project.