【International Women’s Day】Praising the women around me – the queens of strength and beauty

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Reprinted from China Petroleum News: There are \"iron girls\" in the oil industry – why are they so dedicated? March 16, CNPC. Nowadays, many girls like to call themselves “tough girls”; they are straightforward, cheerful, and carefree. But in fact, “strong woman” is not a new term of the new era. In the oil industry, there was previously a term used to describe women – “iron girls” – referring to the stories of strong-willed women from the 1960s and 1970s. “A “tough woman” is by definition someone who isn’t afraid of hardship, but the “iron lady” among such women is even more determined. Piercing through 20 Mount Everest heights: On March 23, 1970, the first women’s drilling team was established at the Jilin oil field. This team consists of 23 members, with an average age of 18; the youngest member is just 16 years old. 1.png In fact, they are all artistic young women with sweet looks and petite figures; most of them have just graduated from school. But they are extremely capable at what they do; take a look at the description on China Petroleum and Petrochemical Network: “In the first year of the team’s establishment, 35 wells were drilled in 9 months” ； 61 wells were dug in the second year, and 106 wells were dug in the following year. In just the first five years of its establishment, the women’s team drilled over 300 wells, covering a total depth of 160,000 meters—an amount equivalent to 2.3 times the total drilling depth achieved in old China over a period of 42 years. Statistics show that from its establishment until it retired from the scene in April 1979, the female team of the Jilin Oil Field drilled more than 180,000 meters deep – an amount equivalent to drilling through 20 Mount Everest heights. ” Imagine a group of artistic young women in the freezing environment of Northeast China, where temperatures reach minus 40 or 50 degrees Celsius; they have little to eat or drink, and have tunneled through 20 Mount Everests. These are the “Iron Girls”. A census of 17,000 people at Tiananmen Square. Take a look at this pretty-looking girl below; her name is Yang Zhenglu. Her father is Yang Hucheng, one of the main figures involved in the Xi’an Incident. Logically speaking, after graduation, it would have been a simple matter for her—as Yang Hucheng’s biological daughter—to go to big cities like Beijing or Shanghai to engage in scientific research. But this young girl was dead set on going to Xinjiang. 2.png After being rescued, the person in charge of the team said that he absolutely wanted to go to the geological team and work in the field. The leader, considering that she was a descendant of a martyr and also a woman, advised her to stay in the agency. But she repeatedly asked to be sent to the grassroots level. Seeing that she was determined, the bureau leaders had no choice but to satisfy her request. At that time, she was so happy that she danced around, and couldn’t help but sing out loud. She went to the Junggar Basin, which was then the most desolate area in China, and became the head of the exploration team. At the age of 20, Yang Zhenglu took a group of men to the uninhabited Santanghu Basin on the China-Mongolia border to play an oil-based version of \"Find Your Sister\". How hardworking is the team she leads? The entire team, consisting of less than ten people, completed a petroleum geology survey covering 6,800 square kilometers in less than 40 days – an area equivalent to 17,000 Tiananmen Squares – and fulfilled the production plan ahead of schedule, exceeding it by 257%. Working 24 hours? So easy 3.png Zhao Limin is a tough woman who has been working in overseas oil fields; she has had an unbreakable bond with oil since childhood. She was born in Daqing, the Oil City, and has been engaged in research on offshore oil field development for 16 years; she has participated in the research of more than a dozen major offshore oil field development and adjustment plans, as well as providing technical support. Zhao Limin made significant contributions to the expansion of China National Petroleum Corporation’s operations overseas; she was willing to work round the clock for her job. It takes just 5 minutes to unload 60 tons of cargo. 4.png Amina Sha** from Xinjiang is a true master in her field at the Tarim Oilfield. As an overhead crane operator there, she has been operating such cranes for 18 years, thereby developing exceptional skills in lifting operations—her movements are precise, accurate, smooth, and steady. Amina Sha** set the highest records in the Tarim Oil Field: unloading 60 tons of cargo from one train car in 5 minutes, and lifting 500,000 tons without any errors. The brilliant idea she proposed, once implemented at the lifting site, saved on the costs associated with using 2 cranes with a capacity of 250,000 tons each. 25 Years at Work with Zero Errors 5.png He Lin is the team leader of the lubricant inspection station in the Quality Inspection Department of Daqing Refining and Chemical Industry. After 25 years of work, having analyzed as many as 150,000 sets of data and processed over 20,000 product quality inspection reports, He Lin has never made a mistake, earning her the well-deserved title of \"Expert in Oil Product Analysis\" at China National Petroleum Corporation. Using a technique similar to that of the \"oil seller,\" He Lin allowed 150 milliliters of liquid in the beaker to flow through circular holes with diameters of 12 millimeters, 10 millimeters, and 8 millimeters respectively, within 29.75 seconds. The entire process was smooth and orderly, with no liquid splashing, leaking, or remaining behind. How many of these \"tough girls\" are out there who don’t rely on their looks or family connections, but depend solely on their own efforts? LinkedIn conducted a survey on women last year, showing that women accounted for only 26.7% of those working in the oil and gas industry – a figure even lower than that in the technology sector, where the concept of \"beauty motivators\" is already common. China Petroleum’s subsidiary, BGP Inc., employs most of its staff in China’s currently most remote and inhospitable wilderness areas, where conditions are harsh. Nevertheless, in 2009, women made up 7.86% of frontline employees, while they accounted for 10.94% of technical and scientific personnel. There are few women in the oil industry, but their quality is admirable. 6.png ▲ Zhao Ensheng, Source: People’s Pictorial. Zhao Ensheng, one of the members of the first female drilling team, once wrote a poem titled “Recalling Qin E – Thoughts upon Revisiting the Drilling Tower”: Bright autumn sun, visiting the old lands of pine-covered hills and rivers. Returning to the old place, drilling continues, as the river flows on peacefully. Unfond of fine attire, she spoke not of sorrows; a woman driller whose name is etched in history. History will remember her, yet her beauty is gone; frost has covered her forehead. In the hearts of the “Iron Girls”, the drilling tower is romantic; all the youth they once spent here was left behind, without any regrets. Yes, they are the most respectable group of people.