In early summer, along the Daguang Expressway all the way north, passing through wetlands, oil fields, and high-rise buildings, you came to the starting point of this expressway-Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province. With the construction of the Daqing-Guangzhou Expressway, the urban development of Daqing has accelerated. The scenery passing by on both sides of the highway tells people the great changes in this oil city.

Those who came to Daqing for the first time were most impressed by the "kowtow machines" that can be seen everywhere outside the car windows. On September 26, 1959, the Songji Three Well located in the Songliao Basin in the northeast ejected industrial oil flow, marking the discovery of the Daqing Oilfield. A magnificent and far-reaching oil battle started. "If you have the conditions, you must go, and if you don't have the conditions to create the conditions, you must go!" It was a zhengzheng oath issued by "Iron Man" Wang Jinxi. Inspired by the "iron man spirit", generations of Daqing people have continued to create novelties in this black land.

At a well site in Daqing Oilfield, the team led by the "Ironman"-the 1205 Drilling Team of Daqing Oilfield, is under intense construction. Different from the past, digital and intelligent drilling rigs have become the "main force."

Zhang Jing, the leader of the 1205 drilling team, said that the "steel team" has always faced difficulties, and the team members fought day and night on the well site. Relying on this spirit of hard work, Daqing Oilfield has won the National Science and Technology Progress Special Award three times in the past 60 years, creating a miracle of high and stable production of more than 50 million tons of crude oil for 27 consecutive years, and continuous and stable production of more than 40 million tons of oil and gas equivalent.

Night view of Liming Lake in Daqing City

In recent years, Daqing City has aimed at automobiles and other fields and injected new development momentum. The non-oil economy accounted for more than 70%. In the transformation and development of resource-based cities, Daqing has delivered a new answer. "These cars are all transported at high speed, which is too important for us." In Fu Jianguo's view, the Daqing section of the Daguang Expressway, which opened to traffic 10 years ago, is of great significance. Over the years, he and his colleagues have been operating a used car business in the racing town of Daqing City, often buying used cars from Liaoning, Tianjin and other places, and transporting them back to Daqing via Daguang Expressway for sale.

The opening of the Daguang Expressway to traffic has added an important channel for Heilongjiang to go south, and it has also brought great convenience to Daqing’s energy and downstream petrochemical product output and mass travel, and has strongly promoted economic interaction and exchanges between regions. This is where the racing town thrives.

Daqing City Racing Town is a characteristic town with the theme of racing competitions and performances, which integrates racing services, car modification, and trade and logistics. With the increasing convenience of transportation, this racing town has now become an important distribution center for auto parts sales in Northeast China and a used car sales market. The development of the city and the smooth flow of roads have also attracted more and more "self-driving tour" tourists to Daqing. People visit the "kowtow machine" to experience the outlook of the oil city, pay homage to the Iron Man Wang Jinxi Memorial Hall to relive the iron man spirit, and visit the spectacular wetlands to experience the ecology of Daqing .

This is the Daqing Longfeng Wetland Overpass

More than 7 million acres of wetland, more than 200 lakes... have won Daqing the reputation of "City of Hundred Lakes". Galloping on the Daqing section of the Daguang Expressway, the endless wetlands, lakes, and birds on both sides of the road make people feel happy. With the help of good resource endowments, Daqing City has been practicing the concept of "green water and green mountains are golden mountains and silver mountains" in recent years, and "oil cities can also become green" has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Today's Daqing Oilfield is constantly emerging with landscape-style factory buildings and vibrant ecological construction demonstration areas. "Respect for nature and respect for nature are turning this former ‘tuyere’ land into 10,000 acres of fertile land, and the ecological benefits are gradually showing." said Qi Changqing, an engineer at the seedling company of the Daqing Oilfield Ecological Environment Management Company. Editor/He Yuting