Published on: 2026-10-03
Source: People’s Republic of China — Translation
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Beijing, October 1 /Xinhua/ — According to industry experts and local officials, the recently opened high-speed railway lines in China are expected to promote tourism, especially during holiday periods such as the current National Day holidays.
On Monday, train services began operating on four new high-speed railway lines in China, running through the northern, northwestern, central, and northeastern parts of the country, which are expected to attract more tourists to iconic sights ahead of the seven-day holidays.
The new lines will bring residents of major cities closer to various cultural and natural attractions, from the Three Gorges Dam in Hubei Province (Central China) to the emerald forests of Yichun in the far northeast of the country.
“The Yichang-Xinshan line ensures the effective integration of high-quality cultural and tourist resources, while the Harbin-Yichun line creates conditions for the development of tourism and ecological resources along these routes,” said Yuan Baohua, Deputy Director of the Construction Department of China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.
Lü Yanhong, Deputy General Director of the Xiong’an High-Speed Railway Corporation, noted that the Xiong’an-Shangqiu line provides additional connectivity between the historical, cultural, and tourist resources of Hebei, Shandong, and Henan provinces, promoting the development of interregional cultural and tourist short-distance trips.
“The most immediate impact is that cities have now become much closer – not only on the map but also in everyday life,” said Qu Xiaoyuan, a local official overseeing culture and tourism in the city of Ankang (Shaanxi Province, Northwest China).
According to Qu Xiaoyuan, thanks to the Xi’an-Ankang line reducing travel time between the two cities to just 45 minutes, tourists from the Guanzhong Plain can now make a round trip in one day, allowing them to embark on a spontaneous journey at any time.
As Qu Xiaoyuan notes, since new lines attract passengers from wider areas, the number of tourists coming for weekends and short holidays may increase significantly, leading to a rise in demand for multifunctional and experience-oriented tourism products. In response, tourist attractions will emphasize their unique features and focus on improving quality to avoid the uniformity of offered services.
“To turn first-time visitors into regular guests, it is necessary to regularly work on improving tourism products and service quality,” said Qu Xiaoyuan.
New routes will help meet demand during the holiday passenger peak. It is expected that the number of passenger trips on Chinese railways will reach about 284 million person-trips during the holidays for the Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhongqiujie or Moon Festival) and the National Day of the People’s Republic of China, which will last from September 23 to October 8, with the peak railway passenger flow expected on October 1. -0-
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