High-speed Rail Brings Tourists with Cash to Luoyang

Since the opening of the high-speed rail link in February this year connecting the historic cities of Xi'an, Luoyang and Zhengzhou, tourist numbers have been on the rise - especially those with money to burn.

Our reporter Shuang Feng has more.

Deputy Director of Luoyang Tourism Bureau, Lin Jijian, classifies high-speed train passengers into three types: those travelling for business, those with urgent things to do, and those with money to spend. And because high-speed rail greatly shortens travel time – even compared to flying - an increasing number of high-end passengers are opting to take a fast train, rather than a plane or bus.

This is especially good news for Luoyang, a city of around 1.5 million in the central Chinese province of Henan. The city's transport infrastructure had previously been lacking behind as far as development was concerned, meaning that foreign tourists generally decided on taking a trip to its more illustrious neighbor, Xi'an.

But now, Lin says, the convenience of the high-speed train is changing all that.

"After visiting Luoyang by high-speed train, many foreign tourists are now experiencing our city's unique culture. Based on current trends, I predict that this year's number of foreign tourists will increase by 20% compared to last year."

Nie Shuangshuang is a tour guide at the Longmen Grottoes, one of Luoyang's most well-travelled sites. She says with the addition of the high-speed rail link, more and more tourists seem to be flocking to Luoyang.

"Since the opening of the high-speed rail connection, the number of tourists has risen more than 10%. The number of tourists from countries such as Malaysia, Canada and France in particular has been increasing quickly."

Lin Jijian says the rising number of high-end tourists will undoubtedly boost the local tourism industry. He points out that high-end tourists like to spend more money on their hotels, and catering, which is likely to propel consumption in Luoyang.

He adds that the city is building a large visitor center near the Luoyang high-speed train station.

"To prepare for the high-speed train, the city government has invested 100 million Yuan to build the centre, which will cover twenty thousand square meters. This will provide buses to all the airports, railway stations and bus stations in Luoyang.

From here tourists will also be able to take buses to any tourist site in Luoyang."

Lin contends that with the development of China's high-speed rail network, in ten years Luoyang will be a transport hub, connected to many other major cities by high-speed rail.

"By then, it will take less than 4 hours to Beijing, 5 hours to Shanghai and 6 hours to Guangzhou. People living in these developed districts and their nearby economic zones could travel to Luoyang on Friday and spend a two-day weekend to fully experience the attraction of Louyang."

For CRI, I'm Shuang Feng.