China's sacred revolutionary sites Zunyi, Yan'an to be connected by high-speed rail

An aerial drone photo taken on Dec. 26, 2025 shows a bullet train running on Fuping grand bridge along the Xi'an-Yan'an high-speed railway in northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Xinhua)

Starting Jan. 26, the sacred revolutionary sites of Zunyi, southwest China's Guizhou Province, and Yan'an in northwest China's Shaanxi Province will be linked by a direct high-speed rail service under the national railway schedule for the first quarter of 2026.

The adjustment will fill the gap in high-speed rail services connecting the southwestern regions of Sichuan, Guizhou, and Chongqing with Yan'an, according to China Railway Chengdu Group Co., Ltd. on Thursday.

The high-speed train ride from Zunyi to Yan'an will take just eight hours and 49 minutes, a big improvement compared to the original train, which took more than 16 hours. Meanwhile, the trip from Yan'an to Zunyi will only take eight hours and 7 minutes.

The railway authority revealed that starting Jan. 27, two round-trip high-speed train services will operate between the two cities.

On Jan. 25, 2018, the opening of the Chongqing-Guiyang Railway ushered Zunyi into the high-speed rail era. Subsequently, on Dec. 26 last year, a new 299-km high-speed line connecting Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi Province, and Yan'an began operations. With the launch of the new high-speed line, China, home to the world's largest high-speed rail network, had expanded its total operational mileage beyond 50,000 km.