Chinese Eastern Railway Liaodong from China in 1898. Officially, traffic on the line started in November 1901, but regular passenger traffic from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok across the Trans-Siberian railway did not commence until July 1903. In 1898, construction of a 550-mile (880 km) spur line, most of which later formed the South Manchuria Railway, began at Harbin, leading southwards through Eastern Manchuria, along the Liaodong Peninsula, to the ice-free deep-water port at Lüshun, which Russia was fortifying and developing into a first-class strategic naval base and marine coaling station for its Far East Fleet and Merchant Marine. This town was known in
Trans-Siberian Orchestra more than 10 million concert tickets and over 10 million albums. The band has released a series of rock operas: "Christmas Eve and Other Stories", "The Christmas Attic", "Beethoven's Last Night", "The Lost Christmas Eve", their two-disc "Night Castle" and "Letters From the Labyrinth". Trans-Siberian Orchestra is also known for their extensive charity work and elaborate concerts, which include a string section, a light show, lasers, "enough pyro to be seen from the International Space Station", moving trusses, video screens, and effects synchronized to music. Both "Billboard Magazine" and "Pollstar" have ranked them as one of the top ten ticket-selling