Yu Benfan holds up a photo of him and his wife, taken five years ago, Oct 22, 2011. [Photo/Xinhua]

Yu Benfan, 31, is among 18 workers who are in charge of maintaining a section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, a high-elevation railway that connects Qinghai province and Tibet autonomous region in China.

Yu has a photo of him and his wife, taken five years ago, standing next to his bed. In the photo he looks fair and happy, but these days his face is swarthy due to working under strong ultraviolet radiation.

Yu and his wife first met in university, before getting married in 2009. In November last year, they had a child.

Since the Qinghai-Tibet Railway opened to traffic in 2006, Yu has been working on the railway. At first, his family members did not understand or support his choice. Gradually, however, they came to accept his decision.

“My wife called me a couple of days ago. Our child is almost one year old and the caring is very tiring. My wife has done a lot and she shows understanding for my job,” Yu was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

To Yu, family is his anchor. When unhappy or stressed, he looks at photos or calls home and “feels great comfort”.