This Day, That Year
FRI - SAT
27/41 28/42
23/34 23/34
27/36 27/35
24/33 24/34
25/32 24/33
26/31 26/32
25/30 25/31 12/22 12/21 21/26 21/30 8/25 12/23 18/28 16/27 26/34 26/34 24/31 21/25 24/31 25/32 17/24 12/24 21/28 21/24
23/30 23/29
27/32 27/32 26/35 25/34 Beijing Changchun Changsha Chongqing Dalian Fuzhou Guangzhou Guilin Guiyang Haikou Hangzhou Harbin Hefei Hohhot Hongkong Jinan Kunming Lanzhou Lhasa Lijiang Macao Nanchang Nanjing Nanning Qingdao Sanya 18/28 12/23 27/33 22/32 14/24 25/36 26/34 25/32 20/28 26/35 25/33 10/24 24/28 12/26 27/32 18/27 14/28 15/31 7/22 14/26 26/32 26/34 22/30 26/34 17/27 27/34
China has the world’s second-largest railway network, with more than 127,000 kilometers of track in service as of last year.
Railway construction has developed rapidly across the country in recent decades. C C T D S C T D C C Sh C R S T C S C C C C T T Sh S C Editor’s Note: This year marks the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening-up policy. 16/27 8/26 26/34 23/32 14/19 25/35 26/34 26/32 21/29 26/35 23/26 10/28 20/21 15/17 27/32 19/27 15/28 14/27 9/23 15/24 25/32 25/33 19/22 26/34 15/21 28/34 S S O D S O C C C C Sh S R O T C S D O C C T T C S C Shanghai Shenyang Shenzhen Shijiazhuang Suzhou Taipei Taiyuan Tianjin Urumqi Wuhan Xi'an Xiamen Xining Yantai Yinchuan Zhengzhou Zhuhai Athens Berlin Brussels Geneva Istanbul London Madrid Moscow Paris Rome Vienna
In 1994, construction started on a railway linking Beijing to Kowloon in Hong Kong. One of the greatest railway journeys of the 20th century, it stretches more than 2,500 km.
The item from China Daily (right) showed passengers on board the first direct express train linking Beijing and Kowloon bidding farewell as the train pulled away from Beijing West Railway Station on May 18, 1997.
The train runs to Beijing and Hong Kong every other day. Total journey time is 24/31 15/27 26/32 19/27 18/25 23/30 17/28 15/28 12/22 24/30 18/28 25/34 6/24 15/20 14/29 21/27 26/32 19/28 16/19 11/14 15/17 18/24 7/10 12/16 14/25 11/18 17/18 13/13 D S T C D C D C C R Sh O Sh S C D C D C C D D C D D C C D 21/25 12/28 26/32 19/24 17/19 23/29 19/23 18/28 12/21 24/27 19/24 25/33 10/23 14/21 13/27 17/20 26/32 19/28 16/17 10/15 14/17 18/23 7/13 12/17 13/18 12/17 16/18 13/17 D S T C D O D S C R D C D S D R C C D C C D O D D C D D about 23 hours.
The GuangzhouShenzhenHong Kong Express Rail Link, a highspeed line spanning 142 km, started trial operations last week.
Traveling from Hong Kong to Guangzhou, Guangdong province, takes about one hour.
The line connects to China’s 25,000-km long highspeed rail network — the FRIDAY SATURDAY Abu Dhabi 25/34 Bangkok 27/36 Colombo 26/30 Dubai 28/34 Hanoi 24/34 Islamabad 19/34 Jakarta 25/30 Karachi 28/37 Kuala Lumpur 25/32 Manila 26/35 Mumbai 27/34 New Delhi 27/41 Pyongyang 16/24 Riyadh 21/33 Seoul 17/24 Singapore 26/31 Sydney 9/19 Teheran 16/24 Tokyo 21/28 Wellington 12/16 Yangon 23/34 S D R S D S D S D D D C D C D D C D D D D 24/36 27/35 26/30 27/36 25/33 20/35 25/31 27/39 24/33 25/34 28/35 28/42 14/25 22/27 12/24 26/32 13/19 15/25 21/24 14/17 23/34 S D D S C S D S D D S S S D C D D S D D D longest in the world.
The network is expected to expand to 38,000 km by 2025, according to China Railway Corp.
Last year, more than 3 billion passenger trips were made on railways, up 9.6 percent year-on-year. BuenosAires 10/17 Caracas 25/27 Chicago 13/17 Houston 27/32 Las Vegas 21/31 Los Angeles 15/17 Mexico city 20/23 New York 14/19 Ottawa 15/15 Rio De Janeiro 21/26 San Francisco 13/16 Sao Paulo 17/20 Vancouver 15/20 Washington 19/21 Cairo 24/39 CapeTown 11/23 Johannesburg 4/17 Lagos 25/28 Nairobi 14/25 O D C S S D D D C D D C C R S C C O D 7/13 C 24/28 D 16/19 S 25/30 S 23/32 S 16/17 C 19/19 D 13/16 R 3/13 C 22/29 D 13/18 O 16/19 D 16/20 D 16/26 R 24/38 S 12/23 C 4/16 C 25/26 D 14/23 D