COLOMBO, Feb. 27（Xinhua）-- Along Sri Lanka’s southwestern coast, the China-aid low-income housing projects built by China Railway 25th Bureau Group Corporation Limited are steadily becoming a reality. What was once only drawings on paper is now turning into real homes for thousands of families who need safe and dignified housing.
As evening falls in Sri Lanka, the warm sea breeze carries the scent of salt. On the fifth day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, Bai Sen, the project manager, returns to the construction camp from downtown Colombo. His work uniform is still covered with dust from the site
The afternoon coordination meeting ran longer than expected. Issues like material supply, labor arrangements, and the upcoming progress payment at the end of the month are still on his mind. He glances at his phone. A message from his wife, sent earlier that morning, reads: “Everything is fine at home. Don’t worry about us.”
Construction has remained in full swing throughout the Spring Festival holiday.
Early every morning, the site is already busy. Tower cranes lift steel bars high into the air with precision. Concrete pump trucks operate continuously, pouring the structural backbone of the buildings into place. Workers move confidently across the scaffolding, tying, welding, and reinforcing steel. Each step connects smoothly to the next.
Mr. Bai Sen puts on his safety helmet and heads straight to the Moratuwa site to oversee the concrete pouring. The dry season is the best time for construction, and every day counts. There is no room for delay
“Manager Bai, you didn’t go home for the Spring Festival. Is your family doing okay?” a fellow worker asks.
He nods, keeping his eyes on the rising structure. “They’re fine. Once these buildings reach the top, I’ll go back to see them.”
On site, no one talks much about missing home. Everyone understands the responsibility ahead: two sites, three buildings, and 683 affordable housing units. Every cubic meter of concrete must be carefully checked. Every single day matters.
About twenty kilometers away, at another 700-unit housing project, technical engineer Lü Feifei crouches among rows of steel bars, carefully checking the spacing. Standing beside him are several local workers — and someone special: his Sri Lankan wife, Lu Manxue, who is currently on maternity leave.
Their story has become well known across the project sites. When Lu Manxue gave birth last year, the project team helped coordinate medical services, arranged a baby crib and supplies in their dormitory, and adjusted Lü Feifei’s schedule so he could be with his wife during this important time.
As the project manager Chen Dejiang once said, “When a company takes care of the small needs of its employees, they can fully focus on achieving the bigger mission.”
Their baby is now almost 100 days old. During lunch breaks, Lu Manxue sometimes brings the baby to the site office. She chats with local workers in Sinhala, then turns to her husband and asks in fluent Chinese, “Are you working overtime tonight?”
On evenings without overtime, she asks him to teach her how to make traditional Chinese paper-cut decorations. Although most Sri Lankans are not familiar with the Chinese zodiac, she knows this is the Year of the Horse and wants to cut a running horse design.
“The Chinese Spring Festival is about family reunion,” Lü Feifei says. “Sri Lankans also value family deeply. When Manxue comes to visit me on site, that is our way of celebrating together.”
In the distance, the sound of pile drivers continues. Holding the paper-cut his wife made, Lü Feifei walks toward his next task.
Right now, the Sri Lanka project cluster is in the most important dry-season construction period of the year. Hundreds of Chinese and Sri Lankan workers have chosen to remain at their posts, making the most of the favorable weather to move the projects forward.
At present, the main structure at the Kottawa site is rising steadily. Foundation works at the Moratuwa site are progressing smoothly. The 700-unit housing project has entered its final stage, focusing on interior finishing and water and electrical installations.
More than a decade after the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative, the Sri Lanka affordable housing projects constructed by China Railway 25th Bureau Group Corporation Limited have transformed from blueprints into real communities. Once completed, they will significantly improve living conditions for local low-income families.
Perhaps years from now, on a rainy day, when residents open their windows and look out at the coconut trees in the distance, they may remember how China and Sri Lanka worked together to build these homes. And they may remember the dedication of the builders who once stood here, working quietly but tirelessly to make this dream possible.
