China News Service reports that the Harbin Railway Bureau today announced the official launch of the first “express train for transporting self-drive tourist vehicles,” traveling from Harbin in Heilongjiang Province to Haikou in Hainan Province. This route spans between China’s northernmost and southernmost provinces, covering a total distance of over 4,000 kilometers, making it the longest car transport train line in the country.
It is reported that Heilongjiang Province, located in the northeasternmost part of China, has seen a growing number of “migratory residents” in recent years — people who travel south to escape the cold in winter and return north to avoid the heat in summer. According to statistics from relevant departments, as many as 100,000 residents from Heilongjiang were staying in Sanya, Hainan Province alone last December.