Making tracks to visit Huilin

Wetlands on Hulin's Zhenbao Island. [Photo provided to China Daily]

A tourism train connecting Beijing and Hulin in northeastern Heilongjiang province will start operations in July.

It'll access not only the area's natural allures but also Beidahuang, which translates as the great northern wilderness but is rapidly urbanizing.

The train will connect China's capital to neighboring Hebei province's Qinhuangdao, Beidaihe and Shanhai Pass, and Heilongjiang's capital, Harbin, Jiamusi, Mudanjiang and Fuyuan.

The country's northernmost province hosts Mudanjiang's Jingpo Lake, Hulin's Wusuli River and Zhenbao Island, Mishan's Khanka Lake and Fuyuan's Heixiazi Island, all of which can be accessed by the train.

It's an hour from the Russian border. Sightseeing buses travel to the neighboring nation's easternmost areas.

Another special tourism train connecting Shanghai and Zhejiang province's capital, Hangzhou, to Hulin will also soon begin operations.

Visitor numbers have grown by about 400,000 in recent years, the city's tourism authority says.