The railway through the Loess Plateau within Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region runs a length of 36 kilometers. This also represents the distance between the couple Luo Yakun and Gou Fawei for most of the year, including important occasions such as Spring Festival, which falls on Feb 5 this year.

Despite sharing the same profession as police officers, the couple, both 27, work at opposite ends of the railway and have found it particularly difficult to see each other during the Spring Festival rush, when many Chinese are traveling on the railway to reunite with loved ones.

"If I do my job well, more people could come back home early and be with their families," said Gou, the husband, whose job is to stand eight hours every day along the railway, making sure pedestrians, herdsmen and animals don't get into the tracks.

Luo, the wife, is responsible for security checks at the station. To have more time together, the couple would sometimes walk along the railway and meet at a midpoint to spend a few minutes there.

Their story has earned the name of "love across 36 kilometers" among colleagues and local passengers.