Slow train to Russia plays key role in cross-border trade

Driver recalls thousands of round trips on 9.8-km line, each taking about 20 hours

Zhang Xiaojun has completed nearly 2,000 round trips between China and Russia in the past 10 years, but he has never had the opportunity to travel around China's vast neighbor to the north.

On each trip, Zhang and a colleague spend about 20 hours on an international railway linking Manzhouli, in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, and Zabaikalsk, a small city in Russia's Far East near the border, even though the railway is only 9.8 kilometers long.