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[Photo by Wang Wei/provided to China Daily]
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When the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, China's railway mileage was only about 21,800 kilometers. Today, China's railway operating mileage has reached 112,000 km, and China's 6,000 km high-speed rail operation mileage is more than half of the world's total. By the end of 2014, China's railway construction investment totaled 808.8 billion yuan; a record high of 8,427 km new lines was put into operation. Passenger and freight transport reform have made important breakthroughs, as passenger traffic volume surged to 2.32 billion, an increase of 12 percent from the previous year - this two-digit growth has been maintained for two consecutive years.
The photographer
Wang Wei, 22, is a freelance photographer who documents China's railway lines, and had trekked to the top of the hill, up some stairs, trees, roads, bridges or even a riverbed to capture quality train moments. His rail path has reached more than 20 thousand km including 60 rail lines. He has taken more than 3 million train photos. "I used to live next to the Beijing North Railway Station in my childhood. I have been deeply fond of trains ever since. Railway photography in China is not very popular and not many people take the time to discover the beauty of it. It is almost exclusive among railway enthusiasts. China's railway culture is way behind that of Japan and Europe, but I hope my tiny effort here might attract more people to these wondrous machines," he says.
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