By Yuan Yuan

Convenient， cheap， many stops—slow trains， with these merits， still chug their way across China in the era of the highspeed railway.

The train is like a small society. Many locals take it to attend regular fairs in nearby towns. Some carry baskets of seasonal fruits and vegetables. Some drive their pigs and sheep onto the trains designated livestock carriage， where they are greeted by a cacophony of ducks， geese and chickens.

During the hours before and after school， the train is packed with school children making either a daily or weekly commute to primary or middle schools.

It is also common to see a bride， veiled in a red scarf and accompanied by friends and relatives， taking the train on her wedding day to the home of her groom in a nearby town.

“In many of the mountainous areas along the railway， the train is the only means by which villagers can get in and out of their towns，” said Liu Wei， the conductor of the train， who has been working in the railway sector for over 20 years. “It is slow and very cheap. The whole trip costs only 25.5 yuan（$4） and the cheapest fare between neighboring stops can be as low as 2 yuan （$0.3）.”

Old-fashioned trains

With 27 stops from Panzhihua to Puxiong， both in Sichuan Province， the train has been running at a speed below 40 km per hour for decades. For the trip of less than 300 km， the train takes more than nine hours and on average stops every 20 minutes.

As all stops are located within the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture， most passengers on the train belong to the Yi ethnic group. For this reason， announcements on the train are made in both standard Chinese and Yi language.

The train has brought locals into their new life. Liu said， “On it， the children go to schools and eventually go to colleges in large cities； adults migrate to cities to seek better opportunities， and local produce can be delivered to other places for sale.”

When Liu was a child， his mother was a regular passenger on the train， making a living by carrying the potatoes she grew to fairs and markets by train. “When I grew up， I became an attendant on the train，” he said. “This train has become an important part of my life and has witnessed changes in the lives of locals over many years.”

Statistics from the National Railway Administration show there are 81 pairs of these slow trains around China. These trains mostly service the remote and less developed areas in southwest， northwest and northeast China and have played a supporting role in the countrys poverty alleviation efforts. A source from China State Railway Group Co. Ltd.， which operates slow trains， told Beijing Review that the trains serve 530 stops in 21 provinces， autonomous regions and municipalities.

Some of the trains have been running for over six decades. In order to make tickets affordable to locals， the fare has not increased since 1995. As the slow trains are painted green， like all of the early trains running in China， they are also known as “green trains.”

As high-speed railway lines continue their sprawl across China， slow trains， threading small towns without access to fast transportation， still serve as a necessary means of travel for local people.

A time machine

“If fast trains are reflective of Chinas pace， then the slow trains reveal its warmth，” said Xiang Baolin， the conductor of the slow train connecting Guangyuan in Sichuan Province and Baoji in neighboring Shaanxi Province.

Each week， this train carries about 1，000 students from mountainous areas to and from school. The whole journey takes over 10 hours. A small library and a special study carriage have been added to the train for the students so that they can study while traveling. The rail company also invites professors onto the train to deliver lectures to the children. Liu Chaobin， an associate professor from Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University， was invited to lecture on the train in October last year. He thought such out-of-classroom instruction to be much livelier.

There are also lectures on growing crops and raising poultry that take place on the train for local farmers. As part of the battle against poverty， the trains serve as platforms for promoting local agricultural products. Some trains even reserve special carriages to display local produce.

Hu Guichuan， the conductor of a slow train connecting Guiyang and Yuping， two cities in Guizhou Province， carries a notebook with him at all times. He writes down the categories and volumes of goods carried by passengers， and helps them find more marketing channels.

In recent years， these slow trains have become a new love for backpackers. Forty-fiveyear-old Jiang Zhou took the slow train from his home in Taiyuan to the city of Lingqiu， both in Shanxi Province. “The train is like a time machine bringing me back to those days when I took the green train from Taiyuan to my college in Beijing，” Jiang said.

The trip to Beijing in those days took over 15 hours and many students who couldnt afford sleeping berths spent the whole night on their seats. “The experience was not that good， as the train was always packed and the carriages smelled bad.”

Jiangs experience on the green train this time was more pleasant. “It was not packed at all， so each passenger could enjoy more space，”Jiang said， noting that he bought some fresh farm products on the train and enjoyed a few relaxing chats with local farmers.

Lu Qunqun， a 19-year-old college student， too， has become a fan of slow train travel. Her interest is more about exploring the past. “The chugging sound and long whistle of the trains have featured many movies and TV series depicting the days of the 1980s and 1990s in China，” she said. “I want to have a real-world first-hand experience of those days.”

Lu has found some of the lines the trains operate on are of great travel value as they pass through wonderful scenery. For example， the railway line connecting the city of Chongqing to Neijiang in neighboring Sichuan Province has a section winding along the Yangtze River.

“In the slow trains， the windows can be opened， allowing fresh air to come in. It is a good place to idle away time，” she said. “With the fast pace of large cities always pushing us to be ahead of time， sitting on the slow train allows us to slow down as well.” BR