China's newly opened high-speed rail lines to boost holiday tourism

China's newly opened high-speed railway sections are expected to boost tourism, especially during holidays such as the ongoing National Day holiday, industry experts and local officials said.

On Monday, China opened four major high-speed railway sections to traffic, spanning northern, northwestern, central and northeastern China, which are expected to draw more tourists to iconic attractions just ahead of the seven-day holiday.

The new lines will bring residents of major cities closer to diverse cultural and natural destinations, from the Three Gorges Dam in central China's Hubei Province to the emerald forests of Yichun in the country's far northeast.

The Yichang-Xingshan section effectively links high-quality cultural and tourism resources, while the Harbin-Yichun section creates conditions for developing tourism and ecological resources along the routes, said Yuan Baohua, deputy director of the construction department of China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (China Railway).

Liu Yanhong, deputy general manager of Xiong'an high-speed railway corporation, said the Xiong'an-Shangqiu section further links historical and cultural tourism resources across Hebei, Shandong and Henan provinces, driving short-haul cross-regional cultural tourism trips.

"The most direct impact is that cities are much closer now -- not just on the map, but in everyday life," said Qu Xiaoyuan, a local cultural and tourism official in Ankang, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

With the Xi'an-Ankang section cutting travel time between the two cities to just 45 minutes, tourists from the Guanzhong Plain can now make a round trip in a single day, allowing for spontaneous getaways at any time, 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.

"Turning first-time visitors into repeat visitors requires continuous efforts to improve tourism products and service quality," Qu said.

The new lines are expected to help meet demand during the holiday travel rush. China Railway expects some 284 million passenger trips during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday period, which extends from Sept. 23 to Oct. 8, with a peak in railway passenger flow on Oct. 1.