SAN FRANCISCO, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Two artists from Beijing are working to raise public awareness of the sacrifices and contributions of Chinese railroad workers who had helped build the first U.S. Transcontinental Railroad.
Zhao Zhunwang, an artist who specializes in traditional Chinese painting, and Li Ju, a photographer and computer engineer, recently traveled along the railroad route from Sacramento, California, to Salt Lake City, Utah, in 10 days.
"First-hand experience is most important for an artist," Zhao, a member of the China Artists Association, said on Wednesday. He said that during the trip, he had to walk on foot and fight cold and hunger just like the Chinese workers did 150 years ago.
"Compared with the dangerous and harsh conditions of those workers, what we did is minimal," he said.
Zhao completed 60 paintings during the trip to prepare for a large-scale painting he plans to finish before May 10 next year -- the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.
The final painting will depict important historical sites, like the Great Wall of China and Donner Pass in California, against the splendid landscape from Sacramento, capital of California, to Salt Lake City, said Zhao.
He said he planned to hold exhibitions in both China and the United States next year to pay tribute to the contributions of the Chinese railroad workers and promote China-U.S. friendship.
Li, who served as Zhao's guide, has visited the sites several times and documented his journey with photos.
In 2010, during a trip to the United States following American photographer William Henry Jackson's photographic journey in the 1860s, he was drawn to stories behind the Transcontinental Railroad.
In 2015, he signed an agreement to donate all of his photos to a Stanford University project called "Chinese Railroad Workers in North America," which was committed to exploring and documenting this largely forgotten piece of history.
The Transcontinental Railroad, originally known as the Central Pacific Railroad, was completed on May 10, 1869, linking the American East and West for the first time.
However, the role of Chinese laborers, who comprised more than 80 percent of the workforce, has been largely neglected.
In recent years, the activists' efforts to honor the Chinese railroad workers have been recognized by the U.S. government.
Last year, the California State Assembly declared May 10 California Chinese Railroad Workers Memorial Day in honor of the nearly 12,000 Chinese railroad workers who helped build the Transcontinental Railroad.
