Train projects reshape South China regions

Rail network boon for goods transport, job prospects, tourism

Liang Jielin, a tour guide in Rongxian county, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, for seven years, said she has never been to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area even though it is so near and well known.

Guiding a group of visitors touring Zhenwu Pavilion — an ancient wood-framed facility dubbed "outstanding structure of the South" as a national treasure in Rongxian county, Liang said she is hoping to visit the area after a new high-speed railway traversing her hometown opens in 2027.

State builders are helping construct the new 648-kilometer Nanning-Zhuhai HSR, which runs for 304 km in Guangxi and 344 km in neighboring Guangdong province, with a designed speed of 350 km per hour for the trains, cutting the travel time on an existing HSR from 3.5 hours to 2.5 hours.