Annual sessions touch on everyday problems

When top political advisers and lawmakers gather in Beijing around this time every year, I always follow their discussions of important issues, including those that I wasn't even aware of, such as why much-lauded high-speed trains haven't been moving at full throttle.

The train controversy first surfaced when a domestic news website reported the conversation between two members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, during a ride on the high-speed rail to attend the political meetings that started last Thursday. The CPPCC members from Henan province marveled at how the new rolling stock at 300 km/h had changed their travel experience. It takes two and a half hours from the provincial capital to Beijing, compared with more than 10 hours before.

But one member, Song Fengqiang, was quick to point out that he had traveled at 350km/h that the Chinese high-speed trains were designed for, until a fatal disaster in 2011 slowed the lines to the current speed.