Meng said that while the economic benefits the railroad brought were often mentioned, the blood and toils of the Chinese railroad workers were almost always neglected.

"While working in the Sierras, Chinese workers hung in baskets, 2,000 feet above raging rivers, during two of the coldest winters in history, to blast into the impenetrable granite mountain -- to make way for laying the tracks," said Meng, emphasizing the harsh working condition.

Descendants of the transcontinental railroad workers attended the ceremony.

One of them named Larry Lee said his great-grand-uncle was "one of the thousands of Chinese who were nameless and faceless to the outside world," and who are "finally being remembered as heroes who united and built America."

A set of three Transcontinental Railroad Forever Stamps were unveiled at the ceremony. Two separate stamps feature the Jupiter and the No. 119 locomotives that powered the trains carrying the officers and guests of the two train companies to the Golden Spike Ceremony. The other stamp portrays the famous golden spike that was a prominent part of the ceremony.

Frances Wong, director of Asian Health Institute of New York Methodist Hospital, attended the ceremony as a member of the Chinese American community.

"I'm very, very excited about the stamps. I think the stamps will go far in helping people to understand how much we've contributed to the history in America and what we've done to help the America grow," said Wong.

【国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Stamps unveiled in U.S. to commemorate Chinese contribution to its first transcon】相关文章：

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