A tourist train carrying 800 tourists from Chengdu arrives at Datong Railway Station on April 4. It marked the beginning of Shanxi province’s train tourism project. [Photo/Shanxi Daily]

A train carrying 800 tourists from Chengdu, Sichuan province in Southwest China bound for Datong in North China’s Shanxi province arrived at Datong Railway Station at 8:13 am on April 4.

The train is one of 100 planned tourist trains that will run from Shanxi’s tourist cities to destinations around the country.

The train stopped in Datong for two days. Tourists on board were able to pay a visit to scenic spots in the city during this period, including the Nine Dragon Wall, Huayan Temple, Yungang Grottoes, Xuankong Temple and Datong Ancient Wall.

The tourist trains are an effort by Shanxi Provincial Tourism Development Committee to boost tourism in the province.

In early 2018, Shanxi signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China Railway Taiyuan Group Co to launch 100 tourist trains to serve tourists visiting Shanxi.

Shanxi is linked to major cities nationwide through its developed railway network. The Datong-Xi’an High-speed Railway Line, Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan Passenger Line, Beijing-Guangzhou High-speed Railway Line, Taiyuan-Yinchuan Railway Line, together with the Longhai Railway Line, provide fast connections to Shanxi.

Due to the advantages of reasonable operation times, numerous travel routes and low operational costs, traveling around Shanxi by train has become a popular travel option for many.