Zhang Xiaoming, the new head of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office. Zhang Xiaoming, who headed liaison office, is called capable, competent The State Council, China's Cabinet, appointed on Friday Zhang Xiaoming as director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office. Zhang, 54, succeeds Wang Guangya. Zhang had been director of the liaison office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and will be replaced by Wang Zhimin. Leaving Hong Kong at the airport on Friday morning, Zhang urged residents of Hong Kong from all sectors to believe in themselves, in Hong Kong and in the country, reiterating President Xi Jinping's remarks during the 20th anniversary celebration of Hong Kong's return to the motherland in July. Xi's remarks have already pointed a direction for Hong Kong's future, Zhang said. Hong Kong people, the city and the country are clearly closely linked. It guarantees Hong Kong's future prosperity and stability, and ensures Hong Kong people's aspiration for better lives will be fulfilled, Zhang said, adding that he always believed Hong Kong is a blessed place. In parting Hong Kong, Zhang quoted three sentences to express his feelings for Hong Kong after his position there during the past five years. He quoted a verse from well-known poet Su Shi from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) to sum up his five-year term. The verse was meant to say that looking back with all the ups and downs along the way, the rainy or sunny days in the past shall not matter anymore. He then quoted early 20th-century Chinese poet Xu Zhimo's renowned verse of Saying Goodbye to Cambridge Again, saying gently I flick my sleeves, not even a wisp of cloud will I bring away. But I did bring away a lot of sincere love from a lot of Hong Kong friends, said Zhang. Zhang also quoted the lyric of famous female singer Faye Wang's song Legend, saying he will always be around for Hong Kong, never far away. Zhang also thanked Hong Kong residents and media for their support, care and help to the liaison office and him. In Beijing, Wang Guangya, who stepped down as head of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, said he believed that Zhang is capable and competent for the new post. Zhang joined the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office in 1980s as a junior official. He was promoted to deputy director in 2004 and was appointed director of the liaison office of Hong Kong in 2012. Wang Zhimin, 60, has worked in Hong Kong for many years since 1992 and has been deeply engaged in youth affairs. He was appointed deputy director of the liaison office of Hong Kong in 2009 and appointed deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office in April 2015. He was relocated as the director of Liaison Office of Central People's Government in Macao Special Administrative Region in July 2016. Zheng Xiaosong, 58, will take over as the director of the Liaison Office of Central People's Government in Macao. batman wristbandplastic wristbands ukblack rubber wristbandsfidget spinner bracelet1 inch wide rubber bandsthe wristband factory24 hour wristbands
A high-speed train heads to Ulanqab from Hohhot in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region in August, marking the openning of the region's first high-speed railway. [Tang Zhe/For China Daily] At major transfer hubs, passengers no longer need to exit, re-enter gate Passengers can now reach most of China's major cities by bullet train, thanks to a network that includes linkages of a number of rail routes, as well as efficient major transfer hubs. According to China Railway Corp, the national rail operator, direct high-speed train services have been arranged between cities with a large number of passengers, including Beijing-Kunming, Harbin-Shanghai and Chengdu-Guangzhou. Those direct services link big cities in different regions by taking more than one rail route. Service between Dalian, Liaoning province, and Xi'an, Shaanxi province, involves eight high-speed rail routes that link 18 medium-size and large cities. Running the network is no easy task. A high-speed rail route must not only carry out bullet train services running only on a single line but also on multiple lines. Source: China Railway Corp The major transfer hub design allows easy transfers to other bullet trains. Passengers can make travel plans and buy connected tickets in advance. When they arrive at the transfer station, they can use a transfer gateway to board the next service, with no need to exit the gate and enter again. The major transfer hub design offsets the lack of direct service in some areas, providing more convenient travel choices. Lanzhou West station, the major transfer hub linking the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region with the rest of China, is expected to receive more than 5,000 transfer passengers a day, said Wang Jian, the deputy head of the station. The Baoji-Lanzhou rail route opened in July, and Wang estimates daily passengers will reach 25,000. The route links Lanzhou with the high-speed rail network. No direct service links Xinjiang with most cities beyond Lanzhou. A passenger from Beijing can take a direct service to Lanzhou and then transfer at Lanzhou West station to Xinjiang. China's high-speed rail network has surpassed 20,000 kilometers, spanning all provincial level regions except Tibet and the Ningxia Hui autonomous region. Hub cities are scattered around the country and linked by the high-speed network. The world's longest high-speed rail service in operation is the 2,760-kilometer Beijing-Kunming service, according to China Railway Corp. Beijing has a distinct spring, summer, fall and winter, whereas Kunming has been called the spring city because the weather never gets very cold. Like the Beijing-Kunming service, departure and arrival cities are different, requiring a different model of bullet train to adjust to diverse local environment. In the northeastern region's winter, when the lowest temperature can hit -40 C, bullet trains need to adjust. In the northwest region's deserts, featuring strong winds and sandstorms, such as along the Lanzhou-Xinjiang line, bullet trains have stormproof designs. According to a plan released by the National Development and Reform Commission in July 2016, China will expand the high-speed rail network to 30,000 km by 2020, linking 80 percent of major cities. By 2030, the network will link all cities with populations of more than 500,000. Riding China's rails China's high-speed rail network stretched 22,000 kilometers as of 2016, accounting for 65 percent of the world's total high-speed railway. The world's longest bullet train service reaches 2,760 kilometers from Beijing to Kunming, Yunnan province. The world's longest continuous high-speed rail track reaches 2,298 kilometers between Beijing and Guangzhou, Guangdong province. China is the only country with trains running at 350 km/h. Service on several Chinese lines have reached that speed, including Beijing-Tianjin, Beijing-Shanghai and Shanghai-Ningbo.
