Railway fan makes ticket selling an art

BEIJING - Tell Pei Jiyang that you need to travel by train from Beijing to other cities in the country and he can list the transfer stations, train numbers and whether you will be standing, sitting or sleeping during each part of the journey.

The 22-year-old philosophy student from Peking University is so familiar with the country's railway network that during the annual Spring Festival transport peak, hundreds of students sent him an online SOS to help them book train tickets between major centers by routing them through smaller, less busy cities.

"Philosophy studies require me to analyze a problem from every possible angle," said Pei. "Similarly, by designing detours, I'm exploring new routes between two cities other than the direct train."