The traveler, Wang Dong, journeyed from Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong Province to Beijing, then to Shanghai, Guiyang, and finally to Yibin in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, in February, arriving with only 40 seconds to spare before the 24-hour deadline. 

Wang’s planned route passed through four interchange cities, connecting time between all the nodes is precise to the minute.

The most intense moment came in Beijing, where Wang had only 31 minutes to transfer from Beijing West Station to Beijing South Station via subway. With his incoming train delayed by three minutes, he relied on experience and sprinted through the station—managing to catch his next train in just 22 minutes.

The real thrill came near the end of the journey. His first leg, from Shenzhen North to Beijing West, departed one minute early. That meant the official start time of the 24-hour journey also moved up by one minute. 

“My final train, D5122 from Guiyang to Yibin, was already planned to arrive just four minutes before the 24-hour mark,” Wang said. “If it had been delayed by more than three minutes, my attempt would have failed.”

Unfortunately, D5122 did encounter delays. When the train finally pulled into Yibin, it was indeed late—but only by 2 minutes. As the doors opened and he stepped onto the platform, his watch showed just 40 seconds remaining—marking a razor-thin and exhilarating margin between success and failure.

At the end of his journey, he paid tribute to the transformative power of China’s high-speed railway system, whose rapid development and efficiency made the impossible possible.

The first record for the “greatest distance traveled by train in 24 hours” was set in the United Kingdom in 1992, covering 2,842.5 kilometers.

Since then, it has been broken eight times, in 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013 (2 times), 2017, 2019 and 2021. It is worth noting that from 2019 onwards, this record has been set on China's railway system.



Global Times