Forty-two testers at a new proving ground on Jilin’s western grassland, with no environmental chamber yet built, simulated a sandstorm in autumn 1955 by shovelling dust into the wind to see whether a pistol would still fire.
一九五五年秋,吉林西部草原一座新建靶场上,四十二名试验人员在尚无环境模拟实验室的条件下,用铁锹把尘土扬进风里,模拟沙尘暴,检验一支手枪在风沙中还能不能击发。
The pistol test was completed on 24 October 1955. The proving ground had been established on 26 August 1954 and is described as one of the 156 major projects the Soviet Union helped build. An environmental simulation laboratory completed in 1958 finally replaced the need to shovel dust into the wind.
这场手枪试验于一九五五年十月二十四日完成。这座靶场早在一九五四年八月二十六日便已设立,被称为苏联援建中国的一百五十六项重点工程之一;一九五八年建成的环境模拟试验室,终于取代了铁锹扬尘的做法。
According to Tencent News, the Horqin grassland was chosen because it was remote, flat, open and sunny. The centre’s compound includes an integrated test workshop shaped like the Bird’s Nest stadium, where equipment is serviced and prepared before trials, according to PLA Daily.
据腾讯新闻报道,选址科尔沁草原,是因为这里偏僻、平坦、开阔、日照充足。据《解放军报》报道,试验中心院内有一栋形似鸟巢的综合试验工房,参试装备在这里进行维护保养和试前准备。
A Grassland where Drought Is the Norm
干旱是常态的草原
Baicheng lies on the Horqin grassland in north-west Jilin, where locals say nine years in ten bring drought. Annual rainfall averages about 400 millimetres against measured evaporation of 1,894.7 millimetres, and between 1961 and 2009, 31 of 49 years had spring drought and 28 had autumn drought, according to the Baicheng government and China Weather. January averages around −16°C and July around 23°C.
白城位于吉林西北部的科尔沁草原,当地有”十年九旱”之说。据白城市政府和中国天气网介绍,这里年均降水量约四百毫米,而实测年蒸发量高达一千八百九十四点七毫米;一九六一年至二零零九年的四十九年间,有三十一年出现春旱,二十八年出现秋旱;一月平均气温约零下十六摄氏度,七月约二十三摄氏度。
The city government says people lived in the area more than 12,000 years ago, in the late Palaeolithic. At Houtaomuga, a sand-dune site in Da’an excavated from 2011 to 2015, radiocarbon dating put a charcoal-tempered potsherd at about 12,900 years old and a human bone at about 11,200 years, according to a Jilin University study.
白城市政府介绍,旧石器时代晚期,一万二千多年前,境内已有人类生活。大安后套木嘎沙坨遗址于二零一一年至二零一五年发掘;据吉林大学的一项研究,经测年,一片夹炭陶片距今约一万二千九百年,一块人骨距今约一万一千二百年。
A thousand years ago the area had a Changchun of its own. Between 1022 and 1115, four Liao emperors, Shengzong, Xingzong, Daozong and Tianzuo, repeatedly visited western Jilin for their spring fishing and hunting camps, according to China Jilin Network.
一千年前,这里就有一座”长春”。据中国吉林网报道,一零二二年至一一一五年间,辽圣宗、兴宗、道宗和天祚帝四位皇帝曾多次来吉林西部春捺钵,即契丹皇帝春季渔猎的行营。
Changchun Prefecture’s walled city was built in 1039 at what is now the Chengsijiazi site on the Taoer River, with a 5,748-metre wall enclosing 1.84 square kilometres, according to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Tianzuo received envoys from Western Xia there in 1109.
据中国社会科学院考古网介绍,长春州城建于一零三九年,位于今洮儿河北岸的城四家子城址,城垣周长五千七百四十八米,围合面积一点八四平方公里;一一零九年,天祚帝曾在这里接见西夏使臣。
Wind, Power and a Shrinking Population
新能源发展与人口下降
Baicheng’s first wind farm opened at Tongyu in October 1999 with 30,600 kilowatts. By the end of 2025 the city’s installed new-energy generating capacity had reached 19.1 gigawatts, making it north-east China’s first city with more than 10 gigawatts, according to the city’s government work report, and Taonan’s green methanol and Da’an’s green hydrogen-to-ammonia projects have entered production.
白城的第一座风电场于一九九九年十月在通榆建成,装机三点零六万千瓦;据市政府工作报告,到二零二五年末,全市新能源装机规模达到一千九百一十万千瓦,成为东北首个”千万千瓦级新能源发电城市”,洮南绿色甲醇和大安绿氢合成氨项目也已投产。
Getting to Baicheng means a train from Changchun that takes as little as 2 hours 26 minutes.
前往白城,可从长春乘坐动车,最快约两小时二十六分钟。
According to Baicheng’s 2025 statistical communiqué, GDP reached ¥62.652 billion, up 4.4 percent, with GDP per capita of ¥43,672. The primary sector, principally agriculture, accounted for 27.3 percent of GDP, roughly four times the national share of 6.7 percent, while the secondary and tertiary sectors accounted for 20.8 and 51.9 percent respectively. The permanent population was 1.4186 million, down from 1.4506 million a year earlier, with 3,500 births against 13,800 deaths.
据白城市二零二五年统计公报显示,全年GDP达六百二十六点五二亿元,同比增长百分之四点四,人均地区生产总值四万三千六百七十二元。第一产业以农业为主,占GDP的百分之二十七点三,约为全国百分之六点七的四倍;第二产业和第三产业分别占百分之二十点八和百分之五十一点九。年末常住人口一百四十一点八六万人,上年为一百四十五点零六万人,全年出生三千五百人,死亡一万三千八百人。
By 2017, the centre had completed more than 5,600 test tasks, according to PLA Daily. More than 1,900 types of weapon tested there had entered service. It was a long way from 42 men shovelling dust into the wind.
据《解放军报》报道,到二零一七年,试验中心已完成试验任务五千六百余项。经这里试验鉴定后列装部队的武器装备达一千九百余种。这与当年四十二个人用铁锹往风里扬尘的情形,已不可同日而语。