Changing trains in Honghe

Something noteworthy about the Chinese high-speed rail network is that most of it was built in the last 20 years or so. So much of it feels super modern. This particular line I was on only opened in 2015, after landslides had wiped out the previous line, built by the French colonialists, in 2002. To avoid the risks of landslides this time around, they blasted a lot of tunnels, and the trip from Hekou to Honghe was 80% going through tunnels. And even though the train could go faster in theory, it was very mountainous and we were maxing out at 140km/h.

Another noteworthy thing is that many high speed stations were only built in those last few decades as well, when most of the cities were already built up to the max in the city centers. For that reason, many of these stations are built relatively far from the centers. In Hekou the distance was around 5km, in Honghe I couldn't even see the city from inside of the station.

The train station in Honghe was monumental - it was really really big. And there were only 10 trains per day or so. I guess you call that future-proofing 😅 There were thousands of seats, and even around 100 massage chairs. At the station, I was the highlight of two little kids, who kept talking Chinese at me, until at some point the little girl blurts out in English "He is my brother!", pointing at the little boy, followed by another barrage of Chinese and lots of blushing. They even gave me a little dance performance to enjoy!

I was now changing to a D class train, which went a lot faster than my previous C class train. The terrain we were racing through with 250 km/h was beautiful, and I spent most of my time looking outside, glad that there were now less tunnels obstructing the view.Læs mere