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Published online 26 September 2007 | Nature 449, 398-402 (2007) | doi:10.1038/449398a

News Feature

Environment: Riding on the roof of the world

China's railway to Tibet is an engineering marvel or an environmental menace — or perhaps both. Jane Qiu takes a ride to find out.

It is a glorious, crispy cold summer morning on the Qinghai–Tibet plateau, and already my lips are turning purple. At more than 4,500 metres above sea level, the air is thin and I can feel a light headache coming on.

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