VANCOUVER， July 30 (Xinhua) -- Canadians have a reputation for being tough people， and the toughest of all Canadians tend to be lumberjacks.


Located about 70 km north of Vancouver on Canada's West Coast， lumberjacks gathered on Saturday for the 59th annual Squamish Days Logger Sports to test their stamina， speed and strength.


The spectacle may look strange to some， but logging has been part of the fabric of West Coast Canadian culture and commerce for the past century or so.


Amy Fast， Loggers Sports spokeswoman， told Xinhua that logging is part of their heritage here in Squamish.


"We were kind of founded as a logging town and though that industry has slowed a little bit in the area， we're starting to see a resurgence of it here， and we like to keep the spirit of that history alive，" she said.


Rarely do people use a hand saw any more when working as a logger， as chainsaws and heavy machines do a lot of the hard work in the woods these days. However， many lumberjacks still enjoy using their hands and testing their brains and brawn like the lumberjacks in the old days.


"It's a sport that's based on a skill that you had to have to do the job. So as far back as the 1800s when they were logging here in the coastal forests， they would have to take an axe and a saw with them to chop down the trees. They weren't using chainsaws， so it's really interesting to see those old skills being practised and used today."


In the speed climb， competitors wearing spikes and straps race up the trees as fast as they can， ringing the bell at the top. The first to return to the bottom is the winner.


The competition attracts about 100 lumberjacks from around the region and the country. Loggers from as far as the United States， Australia and Norway also come to compete here.


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"A 10-member group of Taliban renounced violence and joined the peace and reconciliation process in Jilga district late on Wednesday nike air force 1 noir blanche pas cher ," District Governor Mohammad Sarwar told Xinhua.


The group also handed over 10 guns and rounds of ammunition to security officials nike air force 1 noir mid pas cher , the governor added.


With the former insurgents' surrender nike air force 1 noir basse pas cher , peace and stability would be further strengthened in several parts of the province nike air force 1 noir pas cher , according to Sarwar.


The Taliban militants have yet to make any comment.


The Afghan government set up a 70-member High Peace Council and launched the peace and reconciliation process in 2010 to encourage Taliban to disarm and give up militancy against the government.




CHENGDU， June 20 (Xinhua) -- A 41-car container train， which left Chengdu， capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province， on June 8， bearing a new logo for the China-Europe rail cargo network， arrived in Lodz， Poland， over the weekend.


The Chengdu-Europe express railway service， which connects Chengdu， an economic powerhouse in west China， with Lodz， a new-emerging traffic hub in Europe， opened in April， 2013. It has brought precision instruments， IT products， and clothes from China to Europe， and transported European food， wine and cars on its return trip， according to Chengdu port and logistics office.


Since its maiden journey， the two-way cargo train service has made 300 journeys， according to Chengdu port and logistics office.


Thirty of the cars carried electronic components produced by China's leading home appliances manufacturer TCL. They were bound for its branch in Poland where they will be assembled into color TV sets and sold throughout Europe. Other cars were loaded with products from the PC makers Lenovo and Dell.


TCL started to transport freight to Poland via the express railway service in January 2015， said Liu Guifang， a project director with TCL multimedia operation center. As of March 2016， TCL had transported about 468 tonnes of cargo worth 53.72 million yuan (8.2 million U.S. dollars) to Poland via the route， according to Liu.


"It used to take 27 days by sea to ship electronic components from Guangdong to our processing plants in Poland. The Chengdu-Poland express railway service saves about 15 days and costs almost the same，" Liu said."The railway route provides a much more direct and convenient way to Europe."


Currently， six cargo trains are scheduled to leave Chengdu for Lodz while two or three trains return every week. The route is expected to see 400 trips between the two cities in 2016， the Chengdu port and logistics office said.


Chengdu and Lodz have set up offices to facilitate bilateral trade.


Over the past three years， since the Chengdu-Poland cargo route was launched， Sichuan Province has developed close trade relation with Poland. The trade volume between Sichuan and Poland was 123 million U.S. dollars in 2015， according to Chengdu Customs.


The Chengdu-Europe cargo train service has also been extended to neighboring provinces and even some southern and eastern Chinese cities such as Shenzhen， Xiamen and Ningbo. In Europe， two new routes connect the city of Lodz with Germany and the Netherlands.


On June 8， container trains also departed from the cities of Chongqing， Zhengzhou， Wuhan， Changsha， Suzhou， Dongguan and Yiwu for Europe， bearing the unified new logo， which integrates the Chinese railway logo and its English abbreviation， in red and black.


More than 1，700 China-Europe container trains have been launched since the first left southwest China's Chongqing for Germany's Duisburg in 2011. Most of these trains passed through Poland while the Chengdu-Europe cargo train and "Sumanou" from Suzhou to Warsaw， two non-stop trains， run from China directly to Poland.


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