Foreign tourists wait to board a high-speed train at Luoyang Longmen Railway Station in Luoyang, Central China's Henan Province, on May 1, 2026.

More foreign visitors are choosing to explore China by rail as visa-free policies continue to expand. China's railways handled 12.31 million foreign passengers in the first half of the year, up 33.6 percent year-on-year, according to the latest data from China State Railway Group.

China's railways handled 2.348 billion passenger trips in the first half of the year, up 5.0 percent year-on-year and a record high for the same period. To meet rising travel demand, China State Railway Group used ticketing and waitlist booking data from the 12306 platform to adjust capacity, with an average of 11,468 passenger trains operating daily, up 630 trains or 5.8 percent increase year-on-year.

Cross-border rail travel also continued to grow. In the first half of the year, the China-Laos Railway handled 188,000 cross-border passenger trips, up 25.9 percent year-on-year. The Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed railway handled 16.962 million cross-border passenger trips, up 13.8 percent. China also operated international passenger trains linking China with Russia, Vietnam, Mongolia and North Korea to facilitate cross-border exchanges and economic cooperation, according to China State Railway Group.

Meanwhile, railway authorities successfully handled travel demand during major holidays, including the Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, May Day and Dragon Boat Festival holidays, with multiple passenger records set. On May 1, China's railways recorded a daily high of 24.844 million passenger trips.

To facilitate travel for overseas visitors, China's railway system has optimized ticketing services, including support for foreign passengers using online platforms, multilingual services and passport-based ticket verification.

An Australian tourist told the Global Times on Monday that he had taken high-speed trains to Qingdao and Shanghai, describing the experience as "easy and accommodating." He said ticket services were efficient, recalling that staff quickly helped resolve a ticketing issue and guided them with patience and courtesy.

He said that boarding procedures were smooth, with staff helping passengers line up in an orderly manner and quickly completing passport checks. "The trains are comfortable, with enough space even for someone tall like me," he said, adding that the clean carriages and no-smoking train made the journey more enjoyable.

China has expanded its visa-free policies in recent years, allowing eligible foreign travelers to stay longer and explore the country more conveniently.

China recorded 369 million entry and exit trips in the first half of the year, up 10.8 percent year-on-year and a record high, according to data released by the National Immigration Administration on July 10. Foreign nationals accounted for 45.91 million trips, up 20.6 percent, including 22.91 million arrivals, up 20.4 percent. Visa-free arrivals reached 17.82 million, accounting for 77.7 percent of all foreign arrivals and rising 30.6 percent year-on-year.