High-speed railway links major west China cities

Passengers get on the bullet train D4252 to Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, at the Chengdudong Railway Station in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, Dec. 6, 2017. The Xi'an-Chengdu high-speed rail line went into operation Wednesday, slashing the travel time between the two cities from about 11 hours to just 4. The 658-kilometer new line is China's first rail route running through the Qinling Mountains, the natural boundary between north and south China. (Xinhua/Xue Yubin)