Making tracks

A Tibetan woman pays homage at Gansu's largest Tibetan Buddhist temple, Labrang Monastery.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Zhangjiakou route

The tour from Beijing to Hebei province's Zhangjiakou rides the wave generated by the city's application to co-host the 2022 Winter Olympics. It's scheduled for Aug 16 and will last three days.

The Zhangbei grassland will be one of the highlights, Wang explains.

'Most beautiful high-speed rail'

The Hefei-Fujian high-speed railway runs through Anhui, Jiangxi and Fujian provinces. It stops at such spots as the pine-fleeced Huangshan Mountains, the ancient county of Wuyuan and the karst Wuyi Mountains, known for tea production.

It's not only reportedly among the most picturesque railways to ride but also the trickiest to construct since it's China's first bullet train to zoom through mountain ranges. More than 85 percent of the track runs on bridges or through tunnels, China Radio International reports.

Online travel service provider Ctrip says bookings have grown rapidly since the line opened. The company predicts it'll rank among the most popular summer routes.

"Since July, the number of tourists visiting Wuyi and Xiamen (scenic spots in Fujian accessible by the railway) more than doubled compared with last year," Ctrip publicity officer Yan Xin says.

"(So), we've introduced 52 travel routes for group and individual travelers."