Taking a train through time in China

The handsome guy in the video is called Greg Fountain.  One month ago, Greg left Bahrain and started a new life in Beijing. 

视频里萌帅英国小哥叫方丹（Greg Fountain）。一个多月前，他刚从巴林（Bahrain）到北京开启新生活。

At that time, he was shocked by China's chunyun, also known as the Spring Festival travel season, when hundreds of millions of people travelling home across China for the new year, and travelling back to the cities they work in after the Chinese New Year holiday. Bahrain, the country he lived in before coming to China, has a population of less than 500 thousand. 

因为赶上了春运，看着超千万人的离京回乡人潮，方丹惊讶不已。要知道他生活两年的巴林，全国人口也只有不到50万。

Inspired by his curiosity about how China manages the world's largest annual human migration, Greg decided to take a Chinese train to have the personal experience. 

中国是如何做到的？方丹想去亲自感受中国春运的主要交通工具——铁路。

In 1960s

There is an old Chinese proverb: that it's better to travel 10,000 miles than read 10,000 books – perhaps not on the trains like this though!

中国古语有云：读万卷书不如行万里路。尽管可能不在像这样的一列火车上。

Dubbed "Lv Pi Che" or "green-skinned" train for the colour of their exterior paint, these crowded, noisy antiques were steam-driven, rarely topped 40 km per hour and could take days to reach their destination.

因为车厢的外漆颜色，这列车被中国人俗称为"绿皮车"。这些拥挤且嘈杂的古董列车，以每小时40公里的速度行驶着，人们乘坐这些列车或许要好几天才能到达目的地。

In 1990s

This is an electric train with air conditioning and softer seats, and the services on board have also improved.

这列车就是一列电力机车，车厢有空调和座椅也柔软一些了，列车上的服务也提高了。

These trains were still very crowded, filled with business people, migrant workers and students travelling to the big cities – all with hope in their eyes, and the confident expectation of a bright future.

这种火车仍然十分拥挤，多半奔着大城市去的商人、农民工和学生。在他们的眼中，你能看到希望、信心和对未来的企盼。

In 2016

This is China Railway High-speed, known as CRH or HéxiéHào, which literally means harmony.

这就是中国的高速列车, 众所周知的"和谐号"。

In less than three hours, you can complete a journey that would have taken a full day on a green-skinned train's yesteryear.

二十年前乘坐"绿皮车"需要耗时一天的旅程，如今仅需要不到三个小时。

The article is translated and editted by Chinlingo. Please indicate the source (info.chinlingo.com) for any use, reproduction or transfer. 

本文由Chinlingo编译后发布，如需转载，请标明来源：info.chinlingo.com.