Officer proud of border bridge duty in Heilongjiang

On the morning of Feb 1, the first day of the Year of the Tiger, Zhao Lei gave a holiday call to his family in Putian, Fujian province, while eating dumplings. They are usually eaten around midnight on Lunar New Year's Eve, but because of his work, Zhao had to wait to enjoy them.

It was the second Spring Festival Zhao had spent on a highway bridge connecting China and Russia over the Heilong River in Heihe, a border city in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province.

After breakfast, the 27-year-old police officer, who serves at the Daheihe Island Border Police Station, and two of his colleagues started their daily patrol on the bridge, where morning temperatures can be as low as-40 C.

The 19.9-kilometer bridge－about one-third of which is in China－stretches from Heihe to the Russian city of Blagoveshchensk.

With an investment of 2.47 billion yuan ($388.5 million), the construction of the bridge started in December 2016 and was finished at the end of 2019.

The bridge is not yet open, but when it is, it is expected to carry more than 3 million metric tons of cargo and 1.48 million passengers a year.

Since April 15, 2020, the police station has been tasked with monitoring and patrolling the part of the bridge in China 24 hours a day.

Divided into two groups, six police officers, including Zhao, are responsible for preventing illegal border crossing via the bridge and river.

The officers had to get used to working in extreme cold, Zhao said.

"We were only able to rest in a police vehicle after patrolling until a 10-square-meter portable dwelling was constructed beside the border on the bridge in January 2021," he said. "It is extremely cold in the winter, especially when strong winds sweep the frozen river.

"Even we turned on the heating equipment, cold wind entering small cracks in the walls could make the dwelling feel like a refrigerator."

Several infrared alarms set on the bridge sound loudly when objects come near them, providing officers with good monitoring support.

However, the sensitive equipment also causes problems, as the alarms can be triggered by birds or even a gust of wind.

During the day, officers can determine false alarms simply by looking at cameras, but at night, they have to get up to check using flashlights.

"It's normal to experience this two or three times every night," Zhao said. "Sometimes, an alarm goes off after 4 am, and we basically can't sleep anymore, so we just get up."

The officers also have to be aware of their water intake, he added.

"The nearest public toilet is far away, so we don't drink much water to reduce the need to use it," he said.

During the summer, moisture produced by the river is also an issue.

"The first thing we do after we get up every morning in the summer time is hang our quilts on the railing of the bridge to dry them," he said. "However, by nightfall, the quilts are still wet because of the moisture."

Over the past two years, Heihe has endured several sporadic outbreaks of COVID-19, leading the police station to conduct more epidemic prevention and control work.

During an outbreak that started on Oct 27 last year, Zhao and another officer, Li Baocheng, remained at their posts on the bridge for 30 consecutive days while other colleagues were dispatched to different places in the city, including hospitals, quarantine sites and residential communities.

During his spare time on the bridge, Zhao said he likes to take photos of the beautiful scenery.

"The duty on the bridge is tough, but I always feel proud when I stand beside the border between the two countries," he said. "I know that my country and people are always standing behind me. Our mission is to maintain the security and stability of the border areas, as well as their prosperity and development."