As one of China's national inland economic pilot zones and an active participant in the Belt and Road Initiative, Guiyang has completed a comprehensive transport network covering highways, railways and air in Southwest China's Guizhou province during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20).
Li Zhen, a businessman selling fishing tools, recalls that he had to drive himself to Kunming, the capital of neighboring Yunnan province, which took him more than six hours. But since the Shanghai-Kunming Railway came into operation on Dec 28, 2016, the travel time has been shortened to just two and a half hours.
In addition to the Shanghai-Guiyang Railway, the Guiyang-Guangzhou Railway, Chongqing-Guiyang Railway and Chengdu-Guiyang Railway were all built during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, allowing passengers in Guiyang to travel directly to major cities, such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu and Kunming, within four hours.
Air travel has also improved. According to Wu Xingyao, a university lecturer and travel lover, planning for an international trip used to be expensive and troublesome, with factors such as the airline prices, the transit countries and cross-border procedures to consider. Now, traveling abroad is nothing unusual and is made much easier due to the newly added international non-stop flights and the streamlined paperwork procedures.
Local travel agencies have responded to the momentum and offered diversified travel services to cater to specific groups of people, including group tours for elderly citizens and summer camps for students.
The road network in Guiyang has also been enhanced, with the total length of city roads exceeding 2,100 kilometers and the road density reaching 5.16 kilometers per square kilometer.
