A train linking the city of Qiqihar in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province with the city of Urumqi, the capital of northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, was launched on May 15, becoming the first train route to directly link the two cities. The 4,818-kilometer distance also claims the title of longest continuous running line.

Heilongjiang is China’s most northern province, while Xinjiang is located in the hinterlands of the Eurasian continent and is the largest provincial-level administrative region in China.