Stewardesses provide service for passengers during a trial trip for journalists from Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 22, 2012. China is set to open the world's longest high-speed railway on Dec. 26, linking Beijing and the southern economic center of Guangzhou. Running at an average speed of 300 km per hour, the 2,298-km Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed railway will cut travel time between the two cities to about 8 hours. Designed with a maximum speed of 350 km per hour, the railway has 35 stops in major cities, including Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province, Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province, Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province and Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province. [Xinhua]