The investigations overseas proved that there was no advanced experience in western countries that we could learn from when China built the 750-kilovolt project. We could only create our own path of innovation.
The team led by Zuo Yuxi visited 17 scientific research institutes and manufacturers across China. On their way， they had a consensus. Once China had the 750-kilovolt EHV project built in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau， China would become the No.1 in the world in many fields： the first to build power grids above the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau， the first to deal with the icy weather and pollution， and the first to make a power grid across the Yellow River. The most inspiring thing was that if the three large transformer groups， circuit changers and bushings were all made by China， the gap between China and the world in terms of electric equipment manufacturing would be narrowed from 20 years to just 2 to 3 years.
"OK！" Liu Bencui suddenly got up from the chair and said to Shao Dongren， Zuo Yuxi， Ding Yongfu and the "Four Diamonds"， "Good job！ The breakthrough of the 19 sub-subjects of the 6 modules means the 750-kilovolt EHV project in northwest China is ready to begin. After this project is finished， it will be the time for me to go back to my hometown Beijing to enjoy the rest of my life."
However， good things always take a long time to come. After two years devoted to the EHV project in the northwest， the first plan was submitted to the experts for deliberation on February 1， 2004. Though Zhou Xiaoxin and Zheng Jianchao， two academicians of the Electric Power Research Institute of China (EPRI)， strongly supported the plan， this first edition did not pass.
Did the sudden adverse opinion mean a change in direction from the high-level leaders？ Walking out of the meeting room， the leaders of "Project 750" and the "Four Diamonds" were all in low spirits.
"Chins up， men！" That day， Liu Bencui held a wine glass and toasted every table. "The wine we are now drinking is not in celebration， but in punishment. It might be spicy and bitter， but sweetness will come after the bitterness."
Liu Bencui is really very capable and talented. No one really understood what he said during the dinner. He didn't say it clearly， because he knew that the first large innovation project of SGCC would be under the sky of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in western China.
That night， the offce of "Project 750" which had experienced a failure worked for a whole night to find the reason behind it. Finally at dawn， the sun rose in the east. They finally worked through all 19 sub-subjects of the 6 modules. They decided that they needed to invite some masters to join the group to finish the task. Therefore， they chose to invite electric experts from Tsinghua University and Xi'an Jiaotong University to join them.
There was another fight. The leaders and the "Four Diamonds"worked day and night， holidays and non-holidays. They even worked on New Year's Eve and during Spring Festival. Finally they decided on the 141 km line corridor with two stations and one line. It began in Guanting， Qinghai and ended in East Lanzhou， where the grid entered the 330-kilovolt main network.
The goal was clearly set and R&D strengths could be gathered. The Electric Power Research Institute of China was in charge of the stability of the system. Wuhan Institute of High Voltage of the State Grid (now the State Grid) was in charge of the insulation equipment. Northwest Electric Power Design Institute was in charge of the design， equipment selection and technical parameters. Nanjing Automation Research Institute of the State Grid was in charge of safety and control. Xi'an Jiaotong University and Tsinghua University won the bid and were in charge of the theoretical basis.
This way， work on the 21 sub-subjects in 6 modules was finished in a short period of time. They decided to invite experts to evaluate the project again.
That day， the presentation was made by Ding Yongfu. The indicators listed in the PPT were all better than that of the 750-kilovolt project of South Africa， so was the safety of the system. Also， we had the optimal and economical technology.
As for the technological solution for problems caused by the height above sea level， loess， sand， wind and other unfavorable construction and operation conditions in the northwest， overseas companies definitely could not surpass us. In particular， the import substitution rate reached 92%， which was the most advanced level in the world.
Applause. The experts gave warm applause to "Project 750".
Then there was the Q & A section. The "Four Diamonds"-Lü Shirong， Yi Lidong， Huang Limin and Xiu Jian - answered questions about the virtual mathematic model of the system， equipment， high voltage and the safety of the grid. The critical experts finally smiled with relief.
In February 2003， Premier Zhu Rongji was about to retire. He hosted the 64th and last regular meeting when he was in offce， deciding that the "750-kilovolt" project from Guanting to East Lanzhou of the Northwest Grid Corporation was to be the national innovative prototype project.
Everything was settled. Everyone was happy.
Early that summer in Northwest China， Liu Bencui， general manager of Northwest Grid Corporation， invited the "Four Diamonds" of "Project 750" and their family members to have dinner together. At the dinner， Liu stood up and proposed toasts to everyone present. He said， "First I toast the wives here. We Chinese people often say you deserve half of all the army medals. The "Four Diamonds" have rendered a great service to the Northwest project. History will remember them. However， it's not them I would like to thank， but you and the children. Only I know what and how much you have sacrificed. OK. Cheers！"
Liu Bencui drank his wine in one gulp.
The wives of the "Four Diamonds" sipped a little， but their husbands drank a lot. That night， Lü Shirong and Yi Lidong were drunk， so was Huang Limin and Xiu Jian.
It was time to be drunk. Huang Limin staggered home. His wife Zhu Yaqing supported him. She said， "Limin， I have never seen you as drunk as today. Your bosses were all there. You should restrain yourself and make a good impression." Huang Limin gave a simple and honest smile.
You could ask who they were drunk for. For themselves？ For their wives and their children？ Yes， but also no. They had passion for the northwest and "Project 750". They should be drunk for the northwest， for the dream of their teacher Cheng Zhongjun and his wife Wang Liying's generation， for the dream that never died， for "Project 750" above the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau， and for the shining breakthrough they made in building an innovative country.
They were drunk in Chang'an， and the moon of the Qin Dynasty and the wind of the Han Dynasty were accompanying them.
Taking over a Task in Order to Return Home
The first snow fell in Chang'an after winter came.
It was the end of 2004. Li Weidong stood before the window and looked at the thick snow on the faraway city walls and crenellations. He was upset. Another winter had come. This was his third winter here after being transferred to deputy general manager of Northwest Grid Corporation from general manager of Hefei Power Supply Company in Anhui.
For the past three years， Li had experienced the cold weather and snow of the northwest every winter. His hometown was the south of the Yangtze River， where the weather was warm and the climate mild. His wife Guan Anping worked in Shanghai Electric Power Company. She could no longer bear the bitterness of separation. Every time she called him， she would weep. Their child was still young. All family matters were left to his wife. They had only seen each other once in the past year and a half. How could she bear it？
Observing the snowflakes in the sky， Li Weidong felt a sense of loneliness. The others from southern hometowns who had come to Northwest Grid Corporation with Li had either been promoted or been transferred to other positions. They were scattered everywhere. Only Li was still here， stuck to the thick earth and cold mountains in the northwest.
I want to go home. Li Weidong only wanted to return home. He wanted to return to the region south of the Yangtze River and reunite with his family. This was definitely not because he was deeply in love.
That morning when he had just sat down in his offce， his secretary informed him that the chairman of the board Liu Zhao-shao wanted him to go to his offce. He had something important to tell him.
Li Weidong stood up and walked toward the chairman's offce. After Li arrived in Northwest Grid Corporation， hundreds of workers had wanted to have the family dormitory building built， but the project was too slow. People were not happy with general manager Liu Bencui. Therefore， Liu changed the leader of the project. He allocated infrastructure work to deputy general manager Li Weidong， who had never done such a thing. Though Li almost knew nothing about the project then， he had a strong belief that he must guard the soul of SGCC and pursue perfection. Upon taking offce， Li arranged the schedule of the project and paid much attention to its quality. Finally the project was finished ahead of schedule. He not only saved the image of the company， but also won the Luban Award.[6]
Today， the chairman called him again. This time， what task was waiting for him？ Li Wedong felt that he would face another fight in the Northwest.
He was right. Chairman Liu Zhaoshao said， "Weidong， deputy general manager Shao Dongren is responsible for "Project 750". Now it's time for him to retire. You take over his work."
As a deputy general manager， Li Weidong certainly followed deputy general manager etiquette， that is to say he agreed with every decision his leader made without any excuse. He nodded and said humbly， "If I cannot do the job well， please forgive me."Liu Zhaoshao smiled， "Weidong， I know what kind of person you are. I will sleep well after you take over 'Project 750' ".
"Thank you for your appreciation."
Though he agreed to take over the task without any apprehen-sion， Li Weidong felt a little upset. He felt sorry for his wife. He had promised her that he would be transferred to another posi-tion near his hometown. If "Project 750" could not be finished smoothly， it would be impossible for him to return home. In addi-tion， this was also the last fight for his electric-related life. In the past， he had only been responsible for small-scale infrastructures. Now he was responsible for the SGCC's national prototype above the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
The only way left for him was to go ahead. He could only walk alone towards the splendid peak. He could only succeed and never fail. If he succeeded， he would be fully recognized. History would be changed by the winner and maybe he could be transferred to another position south of the Yangtze River. If he failed， the result would be very bad. He could end up spending the rest of his life in the northwest without accomplishing anything.
There was no way back. Li Dongwei seemed to be a little relaxed. Back to his offce， Li called Ding Yongfu， leader of the "Project 750"offce， and the "Four Diamonds" to his offce. Li was courteous and asked them many questions. He asked them how deputy general manager Shao Dongren managed the offce. He carefully listened to their reports for several days. Finally he nodded， "I understand."Later， he brought all the documents and charts to his dorm and studied them. Various kinds of charts were hung on the walls of his room. Every day after Li left the offce and went home， he looked at them. It took him as long as 3 months to study them.
As he studied the materials， "Project 750" above the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was built in his heart. It was like city walls standing on the land， becoming part of the beautiful scenery and a landmark on the plateau. This made him very excited. In fact， once the project was built， every Chinese person would be proud of it. Among all the countries in the world， China would be the only one that could build a 750-kilovolt project at 3，000-meters above sea level. They would have solved all of the technical problems themselves. The Northwest Grid's counterparts wouldn't be able to catch up with it. They would only be able to look up to the Kunlun Mountains and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Li Weidong felt， just as the Olympic gold medal is the highest standard of sports， that "Project 750"， once built as a high-quality project， would become a gold medal in the history of electric power engineering.
Li went to the construction site. The two transformer substations had just finished the three supplies and levelling stage.[7] It was still like a piece of unpainted paper. Li Weidong decided to write the most impressive words on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Li travelled between Xi'an， Lanzhou and Qinghai. Looking up to the sky， the grey-headed wild geese flew back to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau， on the wings of which was the spring of 2005. The warm wind of early spring melted the winter snow. The temperature of Chang'an started to increase. Northwest Grid Corporation received a sudden call from Beijing saying that after Liu Zhenya took offce as the new general manager of SGCC， the first important site he would like to visit was "Project 750" in the northwest.
Northwest Grid Corporation convened a group meeting of the Party members and introduced two measures. The first established the headquarters of "Project 750" with Li Weidong， deputy general manager of Northwest Grid Corporation as the general director. The second established the fact that Li did not need to be involved with the company's other work except for attending regular meetings of major projects. In fact， Li Weidong had been responsible for diversifying the company's operations. He was not a major actor in Northwest Grid.
Alone he walked a thousand mountains. When Li was assigned this task， his only choice was to fight， to win or to die. He did not leave any way back for himself. He moved the offce of "Project 750" from Xi'an city to the construction site. The headquarters was also on the construction site of the transformer substation in East Lanzhou.
A canteen was built on the construction site near the headquarters. It was in poor condition. Leaders of Gansu Grid Corporation said， "Manager Li， you can eat with us."
Li Weidong refused. "Thank you for your invitation. But if I eat your food， my words will be less powerful. Let's have the quality have the final say."
It is success， not the process that creates a hero. After Li Weidong became the general director of "Project 750"， he rearranged all the cadres and commanded the project in the frontier as if he was a real "general" in the army.
Just as the fight began， a strange thing happened on the construction site. Someone posted online that one of the "Four Diamonds" had had a dishonorable relationship with a woman.
"What shame for the man who did this！ He is hoping 'Project 750' will fail！" Li Weidong was angry. He convened an emergency party meeting. With the red Party Constitution in hand， he read Chapter One - Duty of the Party Members. Then he shouted angrily， "Party members should be frank. Posting online？ What shame！ We are fighting a war now. Why did this man create chaos？ I'd like to ask this man， what conspiracy do you have？ What do you want to do？ Do you want to replace the 'Four Diamonds'？ If this is how you behave， I can clearly say you are out of this game！ You have no ambition that man should possess. A good man should devote his energy to high causes， not defaming others. Our
ancestors once said， if one can correct his mistake， he is doing the best thing. I hope the one who posted online will correct his mistake and make amends. You should know defaming others means you have a dark heart. This kind of behavior should not happen on the construction site of 'Project 750' again. If I see it again， I will severely punish those involved."
The words of Li Weidong worked.
The next day， the one who had posted on line made an apology on the internet. He said， "I was wrong. Manager Li's words yesterday awakened me. I apologize to the 'Four Diamonds'."
Li's action made his team more cohesive. Li then designed the project process and made a schedule for the project. He made everything on the construction site more orderly， waiting for general manager Liu Zhenya's visit.
Spring was coming. The yellow and cold mountains in winter were now covered with green plants. General Manager Liu Zhenya came， accompanied by Deputy General Manager Zheng Baosen. They visited the construction site of the transformer substation in East Lanzhou. In his report， deputy general manager Zheng said he hoped this project would be finished in October and it would be better to strive to finish it in September， making sure that it would be put into operation in October 2005.
Li Weidong calculated， there were less than 6 months left.
General manager Liu Zhenya said， "You must guarantee the success of this project. This is the belief of SGCC. But today I'm not putting too much pressure on you. This is the northwest. My opinion is that we should guarantee quality and safety. It is OK to put it into operation early next year or in the first half of next year."Liu's words were meant to comfort his workers， but what he said expressed his worry of the situation. He was worried that the quality would be influenced by the schedule.
However， Li Weidong saw Liu's words as encouragement and provocation. His spirit of refusing to admit defeat was inspired by his boss. He was determined to succeed. The final deadline of "Project 750" was September. He must make sure it could be put into operation in September 2005. He had a deep understanding of the strategic energy layout of SGCC. "Project 750" was a critical project. If it succeeded， it would be possible for NDRC to give the green light to EHV projects. Therefore， the prelude of the spring of EHV would come only if "Project 750" could succeed in the northwestern winds.
As General Manager Liu worried most about the quality of the project， Li Weidong first did a lot of work to guarantee it. He invited five nationally famous experts in electricity transmission and distribution， circuit and relay protection to safeguard the quality of all the projects. These experts were Tian Ziheng and Zhang Guoqiang from Shaanxi Electric Power Company， Ying Weimin from East China Grid， Jin Liang from Jilin Electric Power Company and Chen Xianwei from Northeast Grid. All of them had had much success during the past years and they had devoted their colorful life to the power grid above the sky of China. Li Weidong gave the decision power to these five experts. Only if the five experts nodded could the construction and installation of the sub-systems of "Project 750" proceed to the next stage.
When the terminal boxes arrived at the construction site， Li Weidong asked the manufacturer and the installation unit， "How is the quality？" They answered， "Very good." Li shook his head and said， "I don't think so. I will invite the experts to set an example for you." As a result， the experts re-arranged the wiring， with all the workers on the construction site observing and learning from them. At last， Li Weidong said， "You see？ This is our example. All the terminal boxes should be installed like this. This is the standard for the wiring. I will be satisfied if you can achieve this level."
One day， Li Weidong walked past a newly-paved cable duct. When he was on the duct， the cover plate made a lot of noise. Li asked deputy general manager Guo Xuefeng from Gansu Power Transmission and Distribution Engineering Company who followed him， "What's the matter with this？ Why don't you put a cushion under it to reduce the noise？"
Guo Xuefeng shook his head and said， "General Manager Li， I can't make it silent. You should ask someone else to do it." Li Weidong was angry， "This is the SGCC's prototype. Anyone who can't do their job well will lose their job. I'm saying this now：change the cover plate within a week， or you can pack up and quit."Guo Xuefeng looked at Li Weidong's lonely， turned back， clenched his teeth and said to the manager of the Department of Project Construction， "Change it！"
As a result， that day， the newly-paved cover plate of the cable duct was pried out. Both sides of the walls of the cable duct were smoothed with the polisher and another flat cover was laid on it. When everything was finished， Guo Xuefeng invited Li Weidong to the site， "General Manager Li， are you satisfied with it now？ You can step on it to test it."
Li Weidong walked back and forth on the cable duct three times and let someone jump on some places of the cover. There was no noise. This time， Li Weidong nodded， "Good job！ Guo Xuefeng， do you understand now？ This is my standard when it comes to work."Guo Xuefeng nodded.
After that， Li Weidong hosted a meeting every night and had project managers report on construction progress and quality.
The meetings were not long. In just several minutes， Li Weidong would repeat the flaws he found during the day and pointed them out to make everyone aware of them.
That morning， when Li Weidong walked past the construction site of the online monitoring cabinet system， he saw a female worker wipe her tears. He felt a little strange and said， "What are you crying for？"
That female worker said， "I miss my child."
"What happened to your child？"
"General Manager Li， my child was born not long before I came to the construction site of 'Project 750'. I came here just as my maternity leave ended. It takes two months to install an online monitoring cabinet system and I cannot leave the construction site for even a day. My child and I miss each other." The woman worker's tears went down and she choked with sobs.
Li Weidong's heart was softened. He said to the worker， "Do not cry. Do not cry. I will let you return home as soon as the online monitoring cabinet systems are installed." However words are just words. There were altogether seven online monitoring cabinet systems in the two transformer substations of "Project 750". Every system would take two months to finish， and it would take at least half a year to finish the installation of all the systems if several people worked overtime. The female workers responsible for the wiring worked both day and night for more than three months and finished all the wire layouts. When the five experts examined them， they found there was a cable protruding.
Take it apart and re-install it？ When Li Weidong had such an idea， he himself hesitated. It takes two months to arrange the online monitoring cabinet system wires， but the final deadline he set for himself was September， before which the project should be put into operation. There was not much time left for him.
He asked the experts from JAC and Hyosung Corp from Korea whether they had any good ideas.
The experts shrugged their shoulders and said， "Mr. Li， sorry， we'd like to help， but we have no idea. This product was produced by Shenyang Switch Factory. We are just cooperators. "
Li turned back and asked the five experts behind him whether they had a method to share.
The rigorous experts also hesitated， "General Manager Li， there is only one way to solve it. Take it apart. But time doesn't allow us to do so."
"Take it apart！ We'd rather guarantee the quality of the project than follow the schedule blindly." Though Li Weidong was hurt in his heart， he made the final decision and said to the experts， "Since we are building the SGCC's prototype， we should aim for perfection and allow no flaws and nor regrets."
