BEIJING, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- For Zhang Xintong, a resident of Harbin, capital city of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, this National Day holiday was supposed to be a quiet break at home. But a newly opened high-speed rail line gave her the idea of a trip to Yichun, where she pictured herself in endless green forests and fresh air.
The new line, China's northernmost high-speed railway, links Harbin with Yichun, a popular summer retreat and forest tourism destination in the same province, along a 318-kilometer route. It officially entered service on Sept. 28, cutting railway travel time between the two cities from about seven hours to roughly two hours.
"Every seat was taken, and some passengers sat on folding chairs and stools in the corner," Zhang said of her Oct. 1 train journey. On board were business travelers, families returning to their hometowns, and friendly locals sharing travel tips with visitors.
This railway underlines the country's efforts to direct more transport infrastructure investment toward border areas, forest regions and less-developed regions, while helping boost development and prosperity in northeast China's border regions, said China Railway Harbin Group Co., Ltd.
Nationwide, China has already built the world's largest high-speed railway network and continues to weave a denser one, aiming to make travel more convenient, offer more tourism options, and promote coordinated regional development.
Also on Sept. 28, China opened three other high-speed rail sections, connecting Xiong'an in Hebei Province with Shangqiu in Henan Province, Xi'an with Ankang in Shaanxi Province, and Yichang with Xingshan in Hubei Province.
Ankang, in the mountainous area of southern Shaanxi, is rich in ecological resources. With the Xi'an-Ankang high-speed railway now in service, travel time between the two cities has been cut from three hours to as short as 45 minutes.
For Qu Xiaoyuan, an Ankang cultural and tourism official, the new line hit home. His brother, who works in Xi'an, called him the day it opened, joking that he could dash home to Ankang for dinner if the family cooked something delicious and still be back in Xi'an that night. "Cities are much closer now, not just on the map but in everyday life," Qu said.
As the new lines draw passengers from a wider area, weekend and short-holiday tourists may increase significantly, driving demand for multi-purpose and experience-oriented tourism products, Qu said. In response, tourist attractions will emphasize their unique features and focus on improving quality to avoid offering similar, copycat experiences.
Further east, the Yichang-Xingshan high-speed railway line brings cities like Wuhan, Zhengzhou and Chongqing within two hours of Xingshan, weaving the Three Gorges, dense forests and cloud-kissed peaks scattered along the route into easy, spontaneous trips.
Beyond driving tourist trips, these newly opened lines are also boosting the flow of talent, technology and capital across regions.
Ma Botao, of the China Railway Economic Planning and Research Institute, said the expanding network is bringing cities and city clusters much closer together. Commuting within metropolitan areas now takes about one hour, living and working across city clusters about two hours, and business travel between neighboring city clusters and provincial capitals around three hours.
"The railway network closely binds large and small cities, making industrial division of labor and cross-city employment the norm," he said.
Noting that the Xiong'an-Shangqiu section fills a gap in Xiong'an New Area's southbound high-speed rail corridor, Liu Yanhong, deputy general manager of Xiong'an high-speed railway corporation, said the line facilitates commuting and business exchanges for relocated enterprises and institutions and supports stronger industrial cooperation along the route.
For cities newly connected to the network, seizing the opportunity depends on how well they position themselves.
"Generally, large cities focus on research and development, finance and headquarters economy, while small cities should leverage their local agriculture, ecology, tourism and distinctive industrial strengths to undertake supporting manufacturing, agricultural product processing, and wellness and cultural tourism, serving as both industrial supporting bases and leisure backyards for central cities," Ma said.
To turn transport advantages into real development gains, Ma advised cities to strengthen connections between high-speed rail stations and industrial parks as well as major population clusters, and improve housing and public services for talent.
Behind these expectations lies a network that keeps growing. By the end of 2025, the country's total operating railway mileage had reached 165,000 km, including more than 50,000 km of high-speed rail.
Fixed-asset investment in the railway sector totaled 511.8 billion yuan (about 76 billion U.S. dollars) in the first eight months of the year, up 1.5 percent year on year, according to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.
Under national plans, China's high-speed rail network is projected to hit 70,000 km by 2035, with eight north-south vertical lines and eight east-west horizontal lines. Once complete, the network will connect major cities, city clusters and key economic zones throughout the country. ■
