A Geo-Historical Database for the Historical Photos of Yunnan-Vietnam Railway in China

Yunnan-Vietnam Railway is a well-known cultural route connecting rich cultural and landscape heritages in China, whose whole heritage system includes not only the physical remains related to the railway history but also the other movable heritages, such as the historical images left during its construction process. This paper aims to briefly summarize the characteristics of historical GIS and the possibility of constructing a historical database with the help of PostgreSQL and GIS tools. The sources of the existing historical images of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway are discussed. Then, those photographic works left by three related railway workers have historical, social, and heritage meanings, which are the evidence of the historical changes of Yunnan. Thus, these photos in the archive and other geographic data are collected and utilized to construct a geo-historical database to realize further spatial analysis, such as the footprints map of historical figures. Further research and applications can be fulfilled based on this built geo-historical database.