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How did the Jining-Ulaanbaatar railway connect China with Mongolia and Russia?

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Wide autumn valley with golden grass in the foreground and low, tree-covered mountains of the Greater Khingan Range in the distance under a clear sky. — Inner Mongolia Da Hinggan (Greater Khingan) Range, southeast of Hailar, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China.

The Jining-Ulaanbaatar railway, completed in 1955, serves as a vital international link connecting China with Mongolia and Russia. By extending northward from Jining in Inner Mongolia to Erenhot on the Mongolian border, the line connects to Ulaanbaatar and eventually joins the Trans-Siberian Railroad at Ulan-Ude in Russia.12

This route, often referred to as the Trans-Mongolian Railway, significantly shortened the rail distance between Beijing and Moscow by approximately 700 miles (1,130 km). Because the railway crosses borders with different technical standards, it functions as a rail-gauge junction at the border; at Zamyn Üüd, trains are transferred from China’s standard-gauge system to the wider Russian broad-gauge track used in Mongolia and Russia. Historically, this line was a key junction for overland trade and collaboration between China and the former Soviet Union.231