Amid all the hype and drama that has taken place this year in China a silent achiever has snuck to the winners post to grab gold.
Though having received scant coverage, it promises tremendous positive transformative outcomes for the locality and greater Asian region, defying its humble birthing.
This baby is the new high speed inter-city express way linking Tianjin with Beijing.
According to China's Ministry of Railways it's the world's fastest train making the 120-km journey between the two cities in about 30 minutes.
In its first month of operation, this speedster transported more than half a million passengers and on one busy day moved over 50,000.
It's been written that in the 1980s, Shenzhen was the happening place, then in the 1990s, Pudong - Shanghai but now in the 21st century it's time for Tianjin and as I write, the 2008 Summer DAVOS World Economic Forum is being convened here.
While recently there taxi drivers I met commented about the rise in local real estate prices as more business people were moving into a relaxed, quaint though functional Tianjin while working in a more busier, at times clogged Beijing.
This new 30-minute commute time between the two cities is nothing to salary men used to being stuck on the 3rd ring road for more than an hour.
Tianjin is the biggest coastal opening-up and port city in North China and as such is strategically placed to reap the benefits of this influx of expertise and capital.
The high speed train is serving as the leverage to realize its founder's potential; historically it was one of the earliest coastal cities of China open to the world.
At present a number of ground breaking high-end projects are in operation, such as the Airbus A320 project, an oil refinery of 10-million-ton capacity, and the exciting Sino-Singapore eco-city.
With the 250,000-ton deep channel sea-route just finished at Tianjin Port, it now holds the mantle as the biggest man-made deep water port in the world.
Elsewhere it has the biggest sea-water desalinization factory in Asia; a new state-level energy industry base, a wind-generating facility manufacturing base not to mention a plethora of other high end future driven industries ranging from auto to aviation to computer to biotechnology.
This inter-city express way is not only a great boost to neighboring Tianjin providing a huge influx of day and weekend tourists who are thirsty to lap up some of the city's delightful riverside architecture.
It's also a visionary slice of what we can expect from China in the years ahead.
With the nation holding the intellectual property rights the implications are profound.
At present the government has announced plans for other similar high speed trains, of note from Beijing to Shanghai (mooted as a 5-hour trip) and for others down the southern coast.
Ideally in the years ahead one ponders if it will lead to the fast-tracking of the long proposed Kunming to Singapore rail route that is forever on the ASEAN agenda.
Today there is a real sense of excitement as the train starts to move from Asia's largest terminus the new Beijing South Railway Station.
The scene is set for a fast smooth journey, with clear space, plenty of rest room and ample ticketing facilities.
Passengers feel more like guests rather than cattle and it is the antithesis of those horrid images of stranded people earlier this year during the snow storm tragedy.
Once inside you look up to a screen and see the speed increasing to 340 km/h. It passes cars outside that look like they are crawling.
It is a very strange feeling and is more akin to flying.
In many ways it is symbolic of the trajectory the China of tomorrow is heading.
Contact the author: brendanjohnworrell@hotmail.com
