The opening of a new branch of China's high-speed rail network means some of the country's most beautiful tourist sites are now easier than ever to reach from Shanghai.
The 850-kilometer Hefei-Fuzhou line, which runs through Anhui, Jiangxi and Fujian provinces, intersects with two existing lines serving the city, namely the Beijing-Shanghai line (at Bengbu) and the Shanghai-Kunming line (at Shangrao).
The new service opened yesterday and will be officially integrated with the national high-speed network on Wednesday, the Shanghai Railway Bureau said.
From then on, people living in Shanghai will be able to travel by train to Yellow Mountain, or Huangshan as its known locally, in east China's Anhui in just four hours and 46 minutes. At present the journey takes 10 hours and 50 minutes.
Similarly, day-trippers will be able to get to Wuyi Mountain in Fujian in just three hours and 13 minutes, down from nine hours and 17 minutes currently.
A one-way ticket from Shanghai to Yellow Mountain will cost between 304 yuan (US$49) and 948.5 yuan, the bureau said.
The Hefei-Fuzhou line, which links the Anhui and Fujian capitals, passes through some of the most beautiful countryside in China.
As well as the Yellow and Wuyi peaks, there are many jewels in Jiangxi, including Sanqing Mountain and the pretty villages of Wuyuan County.
