The times they are a changin'. Why I remember when we had to hike to Shaolin in deep snow, and then cut off our arm just to get in...
High-speed Rail Transports Zhengzhou into Future
2010-11-23 08:44:23 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Zhangxu


Tourists crowd Shaolin Temple in Zhengzhou of central China's Henan province on Oct. 18, 2010. Because of the convenient high-speed rail, which travels up to 350 km/h, the number of foreign and domestic tourists to the historic city of Zhengzhou has increased sharply. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/Zhang Xu]

Special: High-speed Railways in China
by Zhang Xu

Central China's new Zhengzhou-Xi'an high-speed railway has brought with it great changes. One of the areas that has most benefited is Henan province's capital city of Zhengzhou. Tourism, transport and trade here are all on the up.

Zhang Jianhui, deputy mayor of Henan province's capital city Zhengzhou, says the new high speed rail track linking his city with Xi'an has been of great benefit to the local tourist industry.

"Due to our limited transport connections of the past, there used to be an old saying: Visit Xi'an, bypass Henan. But now because of the convenient high-speed rail, which travels up to 350 km/h, the number of foreign and domestic tourists to the historic city of Zhengzhou has increased sharply."

Zhengzhou is part of a traditional transport artery where the north-south Beijing-Guangzhou railway and the east-west Lanzhou-Lianyungang railway cross. Nearly all trains to Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an pass through Zhengzhou.

To cater for this new high speed revolution, Zhengzhou is now constructing a huge state of the art train station. The five-storey station covering 400 thousand square meters is designed to handle over 7,000 passengers per hour at its busiest.

Yang Song is general director of the new station.

"At present 80% of the tracks at the station's base have been completed. The station will begin trial operation in July 2011, and officially come into use by the end of 2011."

Zhang says that transport is Zhengzhou's biggest economic advantage and that the development of high-speed rail in China means the city will become one of China's key transport hubs in the future.

"In the future, the high-speed railways will not only link Lanzhou, Xuzhou, Beijing and Guangzhou, but also Chongqing, Taiyuan, Jinan and Hefei. Then it will take less than two hours to travel to Henan's surrounding big cities."

Zhang also hopes the ambitious transport plans will boost the logistics sector as well as big industry.

He says the municipal government will set up an economic circle around the new station including bus stations, hotels, convention centers, shops and more.

The director of the new station explains that the new high speed trains will help release cargo pressure of the old railway network. Zhang adds that the city also plans to build freight distribution centers around the city's outskirts.

"Through the freight distribution centers, we want to expand Zhengzhou's transport capability in order to adapt to the rapid development of logistics. This will drive Zhengzhou��s economic development."

Like the millions of passengers already using China's high speed rail network, it seems Zhengzhou is on the move.


The photo taken on Oct. 19, 2010 shows the construction site of Zhengzhou East Railway Station in Zhengzhou of central China's Henan province. The high-speed railway station will begin trial operation in July 2011, and officially come into use by the end of 2011. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/Zhang Xu]