The 9-mile-long Wusong Railway in East China was built by the British back in 1876. It connects the city of Shanghai and the port town of Wusong. According to official records, it’s the oldest railway in China. In 1881, China built the 6-mile Tangxu railway to transport coal from the northern coal mining city of Tangshan. It is believed to have been the first railway designed and built by the Chinese people.

Fast forward to April 2007, when China’s first high-speed rail service was officially launched. Since then the number of daily passenger trips has grown ten times to 2.5 million in 2014, making the China high-speed rail network the most heavily used in the world. It’s also the longest high-speed rail network on the planet, with a total length of 10,000-miles.