GBA2 | GBAFOCUS Friday, August 13, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY s the sun beat down mercilessly on Xinfeng railway station on a scorch- ing afternoon, passengers cooled o under swirling ceiling fans in the Ganzhou’s tourists, lounge,A waiting for the trains to pull up. tourism revenue in On the platform of the station in Xinfeng 1996 and 2015 Tourists in county, Jiangxi province, Huang Changfei — Ganzhou the station’s general Party branch secretary — 2015 was making fi nal preparations for the trains’ 48 million arrival, with intermittent railway freight car- riages passing by nonstop. Source: Culture and Tourism Department It has been more than two decades since 1.66 million of Jiangxi province Huang, 56, went to Xinfeng — a county in 1996 Jiangxi’s southernmost city of Ganzhou, which borders Guangdong province to the west — to work on the Beijing-Kowloon railway. As one of the nation’s key tra c arteries, the dual-track railway opened in 1996, linking the capital’s Beijing West railway station with the Shenzhen railway station in Guangdong. It then connects to Hong Kong’s East Rail Line, which termi- nates at the Hung Hom station in Kowloon. Huang had previously served with a Chinese Air Force unit in Changchun, the capital city of Ganzhou’s tourism northeastern Jilin province. In 1997, he went to revenue Ganzhou with a dual purpose — to stay with Opportunities his wife, and to work on the Beijing-Kowloon railway, helping to realign the tracks for trains to change directions. He initially worked at the 39.5 billion nearby Datangbu station, which is also along yuan the railway, before being transferred to the (76-fold Xinfeng station in 2010. increase) “I was demobilized and became a railway worker in 1997, the same year Hong Kong along the rail returned to the motherland,” Huang recalled. 2015 To celebrate Hong Kong’s reunification with the motherland, railways were decorated The rapid development of a railway network in with colorful fl ags and banners. Many people Jiangxi province has not only lifted the southeastern 0.5 watched the handover ceremony live on televi- billion yuan sion on July 1, 1997, to share the joy with their province’s economic status, but also created closer 1996 compatriots, he said. “Seeing our motherland take back one of its ‘strayed children’, every business links with Hong Kong. Chinese was overjoyed. It also meant our moth- Li Bingcun and Shadow Li report from Jiangxi. — also connects Hong Kong via the Beijing- erland had grown stronger.” Guangzhou and Guangzhou-Shenzhen rail To commemorate the handover, the Beijing- networks on the mainland, as well as Hong Kowloon railway was set to go into service on Kong’s East Rail Line. Cross-border railway is Sept 1, 1996. An advanced group of workers one of the most popular modes of transport was sent to Xinfeng to prepare for the opening for passengers and freight between Hong Kong of the station — the county’s fi rst rail service. and the mainland. About 15 trains passed through the station The Beijing-Kowloon railway, which focuses every day in the early stages of its operation, on cargo transportation, has taken o much with vast green fi elds and lush mountains in pressure of the Beijing-Guangzhou railway on its surroundings. the cross-border route, boosting the transpor- tation capability between Hong Kong and other A railway of prosperity cities in the Pearl River Delta, as well as central Jiang Meifei, head of the Xinfeng station, and northern China. began working here in August 1996 as a station The Beijing-Kowloon railway, which winds attendant. Growing up near the tracks, Jiang through many impoverished regions in Jiangxi, was born to a family with four generations Online mostly old revolutionary bases, has fueled their working in the railway industry. Passing on Scan to transformation. These regions previously had the family tradition, he too became a railway no rail services. Huang said the railway has watch a video worker. injected great vitality into Xinfeng county and Jiang recalled that when he was still a child cities in the province in the past 25 years. in his hometown of Yingtan in northeastern Located near many popular “red tourism” Jiangxi, he often saw trains loaded with fresh sites, such as the Jinggang Mountains, the Ji’an food passing through the city. “I could see and Ganzhou stations along the railway had vegetables and livestock being shipped south handled staggering increases in the number to Hong Kong in covered wagons,” he said, of railway passengers, up 130 and 93 times referring to the three “express trains” that From quiet backwater respectively between 1996 and 2015, according were used to deliver fresh food from Shanghai, to media reports. Zhengzhou and Wuhan to Hong Kong via Shen- Exports of agricultural goods, such as zhen every day from 1962 to 2010. to bridgehead economy Jiangxi’s famous navel oranges, have boomed, But with the advent of more diverse trans- By LI BINGCUN in Ganzhou while “red tourism”, that features tours of sig- portation modes, the “express trains” were [email protected] nifi cant historical sites in the modern Chinese subsequently taken out of service. Neverthe- history, has gained popularity on the mainland. less, rail transportation still plays a major role Ganzhou — a mountainous city in Jiangxi province that has Compared with 1996, when the Beijing-Kow- in Jiangxi’s shipment of goods to Hong Kong long su ered from poverty and poor transport development — loon railway went into service, Jiangxi’s GDP today, according to Huang. is poised to be a major gateway between Jiangxi province and had soared from 141 billion yuan ($21.8 billion) Besides the Beijing-Kowloon railway, anoth- the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. to 2.57 trillion yuan last year — an eighteen fold er railway — the Beijing-Guangzhou railway Home to a large number of impoverished old revolutionary increase — according to o cial statistics. bases, the prefecture-level city has been underdeveloped for a long time. It wasn’t until last year that all of its 11 poor counties A station linking the future were removed from the nation’s regional poverty list. Huang may soon call it a day at the Xinfeng (18-fold increase from 1996 to 2020) With the construction of high-speed railways and the central station as he is due to retire in four years’ time. 2,569 2020 government’s support, Ganzhou entered the high-speed-rail But for Huang Xinshun, it’s just the start- era and revitalized its old revolutionary districts. Following ing point. The 26-year-old, a graduate of the the opening of the Nanchang-Ganzhou high-speed railway in Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, 1,678 2015 2019, the Ganzhou-Shenzhen high-speed railway is due to start Sichuan province, is now a station attendant operating by the end of this year. at Ganzhou, his hometown, with the hope of 938 2010 Located in the southernmost region of landlocked Jiangxi, looking after his parents. Ganzhou enjoys a distinct geographical position, adjacent to Huang Xinshun went to Xinfeng county last three provinces — Hunan, Guangdong, and Fujian. year after having worked in other places for 394 2005 Both the Nanchang-Ganzhou and Ganzhou-Shenzhen high- several years. At fi rst, he was depressed by the speed rail links are part of the planned Beijing-Hong Kong huge economic disparity between Chengdu and Jiangxi’s GDP 200 2000 high-speed railway — a key vertical section of the nation’s Ganzhou. “For one thing, Chengdu has a full- high-speed railway network that directly connects Hong Kong fl edged transport system, including a metro, billion yuan with the nation’s capital. intercity trains and high-speed railway. But Source: National Bureau of 141 1996 With the completion of the Ganzhou-Shenzhen high-speed for Ganzhou, high-speed railways are scarce,” Statistics of China railway, the travel time between Shenzhen and Ganzhou will be he said. shortened from the seven hours to about two hours. However, he gradually changed his mind as “The transportation link is expected to enormously acceler- he realized that working in a less developed ate Ganzhou’s integration into the tra c network and econom- city like Ganzhou could o er him more room ic development of the Greater Bay Area. It will be a great leap in to use his expertise, especially in the appli- the region’s development,” said Huang Changfei, general Party cation of new technologies. “Putting what I branch secretary of the Xinfeng railway station in Ganzhou. have learned at college into good practice and Station attendant Huang Xinshun, 26, said he expects the rail improving railway services at the old revolu- link to benefi t cross-regional commuters who live in Ganzhou tionary bases is my big wish,” he said. and work in the Greater Bay Area. It will also help Ganzhou Developments are ongoing. Under the attract more enterprises from the south, given the convenience nation’s plan of building a high-speed railway in tra c, he said. As the largest city in Jiangxi, taking up about directly linking Beijing and Hong Kong, Xin- one-fourth of the province’s total area, Ganzhou has vast land feng began constructing a high-speed railway and resources for businesses from the Greater Bay Area that station in 2017. The station is due to start oper- intend to move to the city. ating this year. Gree Electric — a household company in home appliances Within a 25-year span, Xinfeng has trans- based in Zhuhai, Guangdong province — has set up a manu- formed itself from a small county devoid of facturing base in Ganzhou’s Nankang district, focusing on railway services into a promising land.