Dian-Qian Road Trip (32) "China's Eye" - Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST)

Dian-Qian Road Trip (32) "China's Eye" - Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) March 31 (Thursday) Qianxinan - Qiannan Weather: light rain turning cloudy, 8-14°C; today's highest altitude 1321 meters. Yesterday, we successfully completed our planned tasks at Jilong Fort and are sharing two additional photos (Photos 1 and 2). Today’s drive covers over 300 kilometers. It was drizzling when we set off in the morning, the rain gradually stopped and turned cloudy, and by 11:30 AM we entered Qiannan Prefecture. Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture was once an important route of the Southern Maritime Silk Road and an ancient path connecting central Guizhou to Sichuan, Guangxi, Hunan, and Yunnan. Around 2 PM, we arrived at "China's Eye" (Photo 3). "China's Eye" refers to the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), located in Kedu Town, Pingtang County, Qiannan Prefecture. It is a major national scientific infrastructure project under the 11th Five-Year Plan, construction began in March 2011, completed and trial-run in September 2016, and officially opened in January 2020. To reduce electronic signal interference with the telescope, visitors are not allowed to bring mobile phones, digital cameras (video cameras), smart wristbands, walkie-talkies, or any electronic imaging devices into the "China's Eye" area. The scenic area offers film cameras for rent. After depositing all personal electronic devices, we took a shuttle bus. The bus ride took about 15 minutes to reach "China's Eye," which is located deep in the mountain valley. Then we climbed 789 steps (equivalent to a 50-story building) to finally reach the observation deck. The 500-meter aperture spherical radio telescope’s reflector surface is equivalent to 30 football fields, with sensitivity more than 2.5 times that of the world’s second-largest telescope, greatly expanding human vision to explore the origin and evolution of the universe. Seeing the huge "China's Eye" up close was breathtaking, and the rapid progress of Chinese science and technology is a source of pride. I took photos with a simple film camera specially purchased for this purpose to keep as a memento (Photo 4 to be developed later). There are also some astronomy science and culture exhibition and experience projects in the scenic area, but due to time constraints, we did not participate (Photo 5). In the evening, after passing the Pingtang Grand Bridge, we arrived at the hotel for the night. Pingtang Grand Bridge (Photo 6) is an important part of the Qiannan S62 Yuan’an Expressway, located above the Caodu River Grand Canyon. Construction started in April 2016 and it opened to traffic in December 2019. The bridge is a three-tower cable-stayed bridge with ultra-high towers, each about 300 meters tall, 2135 meters long, and has four lanes for two-way traffic (Photos 7-8). On one side of the bridge, a viewing service area and a hotel were specially built, where we are staying tonight (Photo 9). Tomorrow we will continue touring in Qiannan Prefecture.