China's high-speed rail mileage tops 50,000 km

The first inter-city train from Beijing to north China's Tianjin departs from Beijing South Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 1, 2008. China, home to the world's largest high-speed rail network, has expanded its total operational mileage beyond 50,000 kilometers with the launch of a new high-speed line.

A "Fuxing" bullet train departed Friday morning from Yan'an, a sacred revolutionary heartland in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, for the provincial capital Xi'an, inaugurating the new route. (Photo by Gong Lei/Xinhua)