BEIJING > HONG KONG

Barely nine hours to cover 2,440 kilometres, such is the challenge of the longest high-speed line in the world, connecting Beijing to Hong Kong. The capital city is now closer to southern China, to Guangzhou, and to Shenzhen, symbol of the country’s economic and technological boom. When the Hong Kong section opened to traffic in 2018, the minimum travel time from Beijing to Hong Kong was cut down to nine hours. Hong Kong, the mecca of finance, has been part of China for twenty-two years, though it has retained its status as a special administrative area. This north-south line serves the immense conurbation of the Pearl River Delta, thus connecting the country’s central regions hitherto overlooked in favour of coastal China.

• Leaving Beijing
• Construction stages
• Beijing-Hong Kong, the journey
• Major engineering works
• On-board and station services

• Last stop: Shenzhen
• Arriving at Hong Kong
• An industrial policy
• The impact of the north-south axis

Leaving Beijing

Profoundly transformed in the 1980s, Beijing underwent another metamorphosis during the organisation of the 2008 summer Olympic Games. For this occasion, the city developed futuristic building projects such as the National Stadium, known as “the bird’s nest” for its rounded steel-laced form, or the National Aquatics Centre, a 'water cube' set into the landscape of Olympic Park. Beijing today has expanded to such an extent that urbanists have created several ring roads around the historic centre to manage traffic circulation. The 7th Ring Road - an immense boulevard that connects many neighbouring cities and provinces– measures 940 kilometres, the equivalent of 300 kilometres diameter if it were a perfect circle! Gigantic suburban areas have emerged around the capital city.

As far as the eye can see, modern towers have replaced the last orchards and farmhouses. Trains bound for Wuhan, Guangzhou and Shenzhen depart from Beijing West Station, situated in the Fengtai district. The station’s monumental archway stands as façade on the wide south esplanade, near the Lotus Pond Park and a few hundred metres from Maliandao Tea Street, the largest tea market in Beijing. On the north side, another esplanade leads to the Millenary Monument, commemorating five thousand years of the history of China. Erected in 2000, this circular structure is capped by a steel needle pointed skyward, symbolising Chinese culture. Temple enthusiasts will also enjoy a visit to the nearby White Cloud Temple, a major Taoist sanctuary.

Construction stages

In 2009, the Wuhan-Guangzhou line was put into service. In 2011, Guangzhou was linked to Shenzhen (102 kilometres) on China’s southern border. With the opening of Beijing-Shijiazhuang and Shijiazhuang-Wuhan sections, the entire Beijing-Shenzhen line was inaugurated on 26 December 2012, the anniversary of the birth of Mao Zedong, founder of the People’s Republic of China. The extension of this line to Hong Kong has been operating since September 2018. In eighteen minutes, travellers can ride from Shenzhen to Kowloon West, the new rail station of Hong Kong. This much-anticipated axis cut the travel time between Beijing and Hong Kong by nearly two-thirds, or nine hours instead of twenty-four, thanks to an average travelling speed of 275 km/h!

Beijing-Hong Kong, the journey

Leaving Beijing, the line heads directly south. First provincial city is Shijiazhuang, capital city of Hebei, an interesting stopover to visit Zhengding, the old fortified city surrounded by four pagodas, and home to a twelve hundred-year-old temple. From Henan’s capital city of Zhengzhou, built along the banks of the Yellow River, or Huang He, it is a short trip to the famous Shaolin monastery, founded in the 5th century. Kung Fu was invented here, and today an international training centre teaches masters from around the world. In addition to a vast temple, the site also features a cluster of stupas, over 200 brick funerary mounds that contain the ashes of Buddhist monks. From Zhengzhou, another high-speed line travels to Xi’an, a city with a fabulous historic heritage. It is here that visitors may admire the army of life-sized terra cotta soldiers, each with its own unique features.

Discovered by accident in 1974, this masterpiece depicting the army of Qin, the first emperor of China, dates back to the 3rd century BC. Halfway along the line, the train stops at Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, one of the great economic centres of the country. It is difficult to perceive at first glance the tangle of buildings and motorway overpasses. And yet, among the many traces of the city’s historic past looms the Yellow Crane Tower, representing the bird that is a symbol of longevity and wisdom, often present in Chinese legends and paintings. Relocated to Snake Hill, this four-storey pagoda is a former watchtower that has been rebuilt many times. The tower’s name is derived from a poem written under the Tang Dynasty in the 8th century, and passed down from generation to generation.
The train then runs through Hunan Province, among the rice paddies of China’s vast food basket region. Changsha cultivates the legacy of Mao, notably as the home of the university where the former Chairman pursued his studies. In the heart of the city, on the Orange Isle in the Xiang River, stands a monumental granite sculpture of young Mao. The train continues on to the left of the sacred hillsides of Heng Shan, a sacred site in Taoism, where thirteen-hundred-year-old temples are set in a luxurious landscape. The line ends in the province of Guangdong, which, thanks to Guangzhou, is one of the most dynamic zones in the country. Located on the north bank of the Pearl River Delta (Zhu Jiang), this immense metropolis is a lively and business-oriented city, known for its temples, marketplace, cuisine, and the gigantic international fair. The Asian Games took place here in 2010, strengthening the city’s transportation options. Not to be missed is the futuristic silhouette of the opera house, designed by Zaha Hadid. Upon departure from Guangzhou, the train drives through an undersea tunnel and Shenzhen to reach Hong Kong in a mere eighteen minutes.