Society

Going home has never been so easy

By Zhou Wenting (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-06-28 07:31

SHANGHAI - As a Shanghai native working in Beijing, I had never dreamed I would enjoy a round-trip train ride between the two cities.

(I hated trains because I tried a D train from Shanghai to Beijing last October and spent 10 hours in my seat.)

Yet on Monday, there I was, one of more than 100 members from the international press to experience the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway.

Oscar Garschagen, bureau chief of NRC Handelsblad / nrc.next in Shanghai, has traveled a lot in Europe by high-speed train.

"I'm surprised the Chinese high-speed railway can be accomplished within such a short time, it was supposed to be accomplished by the end of next year," said the Netherlands native.

Oscar was surprised to find a power socket under the seat. "It is so convenient to work on the train, and I'm looking forward to the WiFi service at the end of this year," he said.

Stephen McDonell, China correspondent at Australian Broadcasting Corporation, has been in China for six years and traveled many times on the Beijing-Tianjin intercity railway.

"It's more interesting and comfortable to go by train than plane. We can have more talks, entertainment and see more scenic views along the route," he said.

My seat in first-class coach was double that on the plane, and I pulled out the table hidden in the arm of the chair to hold my laptop.

My Japanese neighbors on the train told me it feels so much like the Shinkansen in their country.

"In Japan, trains go up on mountains, go down on plains and zigzag when moving ahead. But this train goes on plains and moves straight forward," said Toshinori Aoki, China general bureau chief of TV Asahi Corporation.

This test run has somewhat changed my mind about taking the high-speed railway. The trip along the 1,300-plus-kilometer track between China's two most dynamic cities has been finished in less than five hours.