Central Asian foods offer a taste of things to come

With a long whistle to herald its arrival, the freight train Chang'an pulled into the station at Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, in late March. On board was 1,000 metric tons of rapeseed oil and 1,000 tons of sunflower seed oil from Kazakhstan.

It was the first time the freight service had carried goods produced in the Central Asian nation.

The oil was bound for Xi'an Aiju Grain and Oil Industry Group, and in a few months it will be on Chinese dining tables, according to the company's chairman, Jia Heyi.