China's railways send 5m passengers by Feb 6

[phantom power]

BEIJING: China's railway network has transported 5.03 million passengers as of February 6, the eighth day of the country's annual Spring Festival transport peak lasting from January 30 to March 10 this year, said the Ministry of Railways (MOR) Sunday.

The figure was 105,000 more than that in the same time last year, up 2.1 percent year on year, according to the MOR.

Beijing railways have transported 347,418 passengers by February 6, and the figures in Guangzhou and Shanghai stood at 576,710 and 325,190, the MOR said.

The MOR had forecasted in January that China's railways were expected to transport 210 million passengers during the Luner New Year travel rush, up 9.5 percent year on year.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-02/07/content_9440329.htm

[On the Road]

1. Chinese Trains are Great

Long-distance travel is primarily by sleeper train. You get on at 5-7PM and wake up in another part of the country. While it's light you can see the countryside. A little crowded but you get a lot of local color. Very efficient.

In the dining cars, you can get whole fish on ceramics plates for almost nothing, although you have to fit in next to strangers.