China blends rail services with tourism experiences

A train ticket is doing more than taking travelers from A to B in China this summer. It can put them aboard a purple sightseeing train winding through the mountains of the southwest, carry them on a 19-day journey from Beijing to the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and even unlock discounts at scenic spots after they step off the train.

China's summer railway travel rush reached its halfway point at the end of July, with 432 million passenger trips made nationwide from July 1 to 31, according to China State Railway Group, the national railway operator.

For the full 62-day summer travel rush from July 1 to Aug 31, China's railways are expected to handle 1.01 billion passenger trips, averaging 16.29 million trips a day.

But accommodating the summer crowds is not just about adding more trains.

Railway authorities are increasingly integrating rail services with tourism, rolling out services tailored for family trips, study tours, "Red tourism" and wellness travel while linking food, scenery and cultural attractions along railway routes.

The approach is part of an effort described by China State Railway Group as "bringing rail services closer to tourist destinations".

The scale is growing quickly. In the first half of the year, 1,797 tourism trains operated nationwide, according to the company.

In Southwest China, some trains are designed to make the journey itself part of the holiday. A purple tourist train linking Guiyang in Guizhou province with Panzhihua in Sichuan province is hard to miss, with ethnic-inspired patterns decorating its exterior.

The 11-car train includes sleeper cars, a dining car and a lounge car with panoramic windows and connects popular destinations across Guizhou, Chongqing and Sichuan, including Chengdu and Xichang.

Another train service takes the idea further.

In May, a panda-themed tourist train left Chengdu with 92 passengers on a 16-day tour of Xinjiang. Traveling mainly at night and allowing passengers to explore during the day, it connects destinations including Sayram Lake, Kashgar and Turpan.

For shorter breaks, China Railway Chengdu Group has promoted a travel program built around destinations reachable within one, two or three hours by high-speed rail from Chengdu.

Destinations roughly within one hour of Chengdu are positioned as day-trip options, those within two hours as short getaways, and those within three hours as wider regional travel.

The network links places such as Leshan, Zigong, Ya'an and Xichang, making cross-city weekend trips easier to arrange.

For travelers, the expanding high-speed rail network is making spontaneous cross-city trips easier.

"Now going to Chongqing feels almost like visiting a park near home. It takes just over an hour, and with the child on summer vacation, we can simply decide to go," said Zhang Weimin, a Chengdu passenger traveling with his child to Chongqing before taking a cruise through the Three Gorges.

The value of a train ticket can also extend beyond the journey itself. In Guangyuan, Sichuan, travelers arriving by high-speed rail can receive a 30 percent discount on admission to local A-level scenic attractions within a week of arrival. By May, the policy had drawn more than 300,000 visitor trips to participating attractions.

In some places, high-speed rail passengers can also receive discounts at local attractions, hotels and restaurants.

Travelers to Maoxian county can enjoy such discounts, while some hotels in Songpan county offer reduced rates to rail travelers.

In Jiangxi province, passengers with valid railway travel records from the previous seven days can receive admission discounts at some attractions.

In Jiangxi and Fujian provinces, China Railway Nanchang Group has been expanding its journey-based tourism rail services.

A Wuyishan National Park-themed sightseeing train, for example, features observation and family spaces, as well as areas for leisure and group activities.

A passenger surnamed Sun said she first discovered the train on social media.

"The carriage is beautiful, there are performances along the way, and the train ride itself is an interesting journey," she said.

A sightseeing train serving Shangrao, a popular tourism destination in Jiangxi, is another collaboration between the railway and a tourism operator.

The service has maintained an average occupancy rate of more than 90 percent since its launch on April 30.

"We want to turn the train itself into a tourism destination and make the journey fun and engaging for every traveler," said Zheng Dan, chairman of a company operating the sightseeing train.

Long-distance tourist train services are expanding as well. On July 16, more than 400 passengers boarded a Beijing-Xinjiang tourist train at Beijing Fengtai Railway Station for a 19-day tour of northern and southern Xinjiang.

A broader Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei tourism program unveiled 31 tourist train services, including a Beijing-Xizang tourist train to the Xizang autonomous region and tourist trains heading to Northeast China.

Policy support is reinforcing the trend.

In June, eight government departments, including the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and China State Railway Group, issued 15 measures to deepen railway-tourism integration. The plan calls for more than 160 dedicated tourist-train sets nationwide by 2030.

For travelers, the change can be summed up simply: taking the train is no longer only about getting to the holiday.

Increasingly, the holiday begins when the train starts moving.

luowangshu@chinadaily.com.cn