More tourists riding the rails to see sights

Tourist trains are becoming popular in China, contributing to the recovery of the tourism market.

On the morning of April 6, the first of a series of tourist trains destined for attractions in the Yangtze River Delta and neighboring regions departed from Shanghai Hongqiao Station, starting a five-day tour of the Dabie Mountains.

"Taking high-speed tourist trains is a fast, safe and comfortable way to travel. The high-speed rail lines in the Yangtze River Delta are densely woven like veins. Such good resources should not be wasted," a Shanghai resident surnamed Fang told China Tourism News.

Travel agencies have launched a variety of tourist train packages to cater to tourists' demand.

Du Tingting, an executive with Kunming Railway Group International Tourism Service, told China Tourism News that they have launched tourist train services this year with themes such as rapeseed flowers, which span across places including Kunming, Beijing, Weishe of Guizhou province, Zhangjiajie of Hunan province and Yichang of Hubei province.

The company is also planning to launch a cross-border tourist train service from China to Laos, according to Du.

Yan Lei, deputy general manager of the tourist train division of China Railway Travel Service Group, told China Tourism News: "We have already launched our first tourist train of the year, which took 428 passengers from Beijing to places including Ganzhou of Jiangxi province, Taining of Fujian province and Huangshan of Anhui province on a trip of eight days.

In the coming months, the company plans to launch train routes heading to Sichuan province, the Tibet autonomous region, Northeast China and Hong Kong, among other destinations.

"Tourist trains combine transportation with tourism, and some long-distance trains are equipped with accommodation facilities, creating the concept of a mobile hotel," Wu Liyun, an associate professor at the China Academy of Culture and Tourism at the Beijing International Studies University, said to China Tourism News. "Integrating multidestination railway travel and themed tourism routes can enrich tourism scenarios and unleash the demand for tourism consumption."

She added that tourist trains can also link up tourism resources in different regions, make longdistance travel easier for tourists, promote the coordinated development of regional tourism, and help tourists save time as well as money by combining transportation and accommodation.

Wu suggested that travel agencies make greater efforts to coordinate between trains and scenic areas, shopping locations and entertainment venues in order to maximize the function of trains as a link.