Herdsmen transfer livestocks to spring pastures by train

This photo released by Xinhua News Agency on March 15 shows a herdsman of China's Kazak ethnic group carrying his lambs waits for the train bound for Ili River Valley, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on March 5, 2010.

Some 50,000 livestock and over 800 Kazak families finished their migration to spring pastures in Ili River Valley from March 5 to 9 with the help of electric trains, which shortened the migrating way to 2.5 hours camparing to 7-day transportation in traditional ways.

The electric trains, first used on the migration road, helped a lot to relief the plague of the worst snow weather in Xinjiang in 50 years, which blocked traditional migration channels across the Tianshan Mountain and increased risks of avalanches and flooding since last December. [Photo/Xinhua]