Things to love about China: 34 of 100

Trains

When trains were invented in the 1800’s, 18mph was an unheard of speed- but steam engines could do it. Americans marveled at the fact that this steel machine could (with the power of boiled water) move faster than a horse.

Even two-hundred years later, trains continue to fascinate us in a way we can’t truly understand. Think of trains in Hollywood films such as: Mission Impossible, Transsiberian, The Darjeeling Limited, Harry Potter, Murder on the Orient Express, Throw Mama Off the Train, The Great Train Robbery, Strangers on a Train- the list goes on.

And what better way to start a story: Someone sits on a train reading a newspaper. It’s like the train itself is a symbol for the plot speeding along and there isn’t anything anyone can do to stop it- the films Unbreakable, Gandhi, and The Tourist spring to mind. There are also those stories where the climax of the story takes place on a train – Broken Arrow, Back to the Future III, and The Wastelands by Stephen King.

In King’s “The Wastelands” the book ends in a cliffhanger where the characters are trapped on a futuristic super-train that can travel faster than the speed of sound (Blaine the train runs mainly on the plains). Now it’s been over twenty years since King’s book was written and, though no train can even come close to making a sonic boom, we have come a long way from 18mph.

China happens to have the world’s fastest passenger trains and, also, the world’s longest high-speed train system. Most high-speed trains in China cruise at about 220mph (twice as fast as high-speed railways in Europe) and the Maglev Line in Shanghai clocks-in at 268mph and that’s one fast train.

*Now, it’s true, that Japan’s JR–Maglev can reach speeds of 361mph, but this is an experimental vehicle that does not yet, carry passengers- so if you want to move faster on land than you ever have before, China is the way to go*

At this point in my classroom one of my student’s would probably say something like “But, Mr. Raabe, trains are outdated. We have planes now. Planes are faster,” – at which point I would respond “Wrong! High-Speed trains are a much better means of travel when you consider: price, security checks, boarding time, layovers, luggage check, inclement weather, space and comfort.

Indeed, studies have concluded that when traveling distances of 150-550 miles, High Speed Trains are the most economical, environmental, comfortable, fastest, and cheapest way to travel and this is especially true for Chinese Trains.

It’s no surprise that China leads the world in transporting passengers per year. It’s also no surprise that for railway usage the United States ranks one of the lowest in transporting passengers (I mean who uses Amtrak). The US takes passengers fewer miles than most European and Asian Nations and it only slightly beats Kazakhstan (a country where I have never actually seen a train).

I can only conclude by these statistics that a majority of the readers of my blog have never, in their lives, been on a train- which is crazy considering this is the same country that is so obsessed with locomotives in literature and film and the song "Locomotion".

The train was invented in Great Britain, glorified in the United States, but now it is China that has perfected the train. You can buy your tickets here: http://www.chinatraintickets.net/