Explainer: Why are tourist trains gaining steam in China?

Show me some popular routes

1. Panda Train

Known as a panda paradise, Sichuan in Southwest China has a tourism train named "Panda," which connects the province with neighboring tourist destinations.

The train boasts 5G, a music and video entertainment system, a restaurant and bar, a chess and card room and private toilets with hot showers in the sleeping carriages.

Its interior and exterior are adorned with giant panda imagery, attendants carry panda toys and passengers can even try panda-shaped food.

2. Spring outing tourist trains

Many tourist trains began to launch routes in March for the spring season.

For example, Y582, which departs from Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, carries passengers to the flowering canola fields in the south of the province.

In South China's Guangdong, tourist trains transport travelers to popular towns in the neighboring Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region where ethnic groups live.

For those wanting to escape the cooler spring in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, a train to Hong Kong and Macao, both in South China, offers a 16-day journey across the country.