Passengers prepare to board bullet train G801 to leave for Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, at the Beijing West Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 26, 2012. The world's longest high-speed rail route linking Beijing and Guangzhou started operation on Wednesday. Running at an average speed of 300 kilometers per hour, the 2,298-kilometer new route will cut the travel time between Beijing and Guangzhou from more than 20 hours to around eight. [Xinhua photo]