Bengbu: Rail renaissance set to bring new glory to an old-fashioned train town

It was a tiny village of mostly fishermen on the banks of the Huaihe River in Anhui. And exactly 100 years ago in 1911, Bengbu was put on the map when the railway connected Shanghai and Beijing for the first time, passing through the little town.

Bengbu flourished as a transport hub along the route and quickly grew to become one of Anhui's top cities in its heyday in the 1980s.

But, as the web of cross-country freeways spread and air travel became more popular, Bengbu's fortunes slipped, and its importance waned.