‘Cradle of revolution’ connected by rail
A HIGH-SPEED railway opened yesterday threading Nanchang, capital of east China’s Jiangxi Province, Jinggangshan, the “cradle of the Chinese revolution” and China’s rare earth base of Ganzhou.
The railway with a design speed of 350 kilometers per hour shortens the previous train trip of over 4 hours to less than 2 hours on the 418km line.
The railway is connected with both China’s vertical artery of the Beijing-Hong Kong High-speed Railway and the horizontal artery of the Shanghai-Kunming High-Speed Railway.
Jinggangshan has become a famous tourist destination for visitors from home and abroad, which boasts both pristine natural scenery and the cultural heritage of the revolution.
The first railway was laid to the city in 2006 and in May 2004, the Jinggangshan Airport opened, injecting great vitality into the mountainous area.
“The opening of the highspeed railway service has further accelerated the development of the old revolutionary base,” said Chen Shenghua, professor from the China Executive Leadership Academy Jinggangshan.
An economic development zone has been planned near the Ji’an West Railway Station in Jinggangshan, which has a planned area of 7.6 square kilometers.
Xiao Xin, chairman of Ji’an City Investment Holding Group, said the development zone with an investment of over 15 billion yuan (US$2.14 billion) will feature exhibitions and tourism.
(Xinhua)