Passengers have their tickets checked at Guiyangbei Railway Station in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, Dec. 28, 2016. China on Wednesday put into operation one of the world's longest high-speed railways, linking the country's prosperous eastern coast to the less-developed southwest. The Shanghai-Kunming line -- 2,252 km in length -- traverses the five provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan and cuts travel time from Shanghai to Kunming from 34 to 11 hours, according to China Railway Corporation. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)