The first China-Central Asia cultural tourism train for the year departed the Horgos Railway Port in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Friday and arrived in Almaty, Kazakhstan on the same day.

The tourist-dedicated train, which links Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, with Almaty, was launched last year as a new channel for deepening connectivity and promoting people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and Central Asia.
The train left Xi'an on Monday, traveling westward along the railways of Lanzhou-Lianyungang and Lanzhou-Xinjiang. After arriving at Yining Railway Station in Xinjiang, passengers paid a visit to local scenic spots such as the Sayram Lake.

Then the passengers took a dedicated train for Almaty.

"This is my first time traveling abroad by train. The exit formalities were handled very quickly, and everything went smoothly for me to enter the station and board the train. I am full of anticipation for the rest of the trip," said Hu Sanqi, a tourist.

The Urumqi Bureau of China Railway has worked in collaboration with the customs and border inspection departments to optimize the entire process of port clearance, and has made advance preparations for passengers to exchange tickets, reducing the time for passengers to handle entry and exit procedures to about one hour.

"The passenger transportation and ticket processing for the overseas section were handled by the railway department of Kazakhstan. We promptly coordinated with the Kazakh side and completed the round-trip ticket procedures for the overseas section in advance for the passengers," said Reyhangul Rahman, a staff member of the Horgos Railway Station.