Somehow you have got to love high-speed rail.

That's right: one loss is another's gain. The Beijing-Chengde Intercity Rail, originally planned to end up after about an hour or so in Chengde, will now be replaced by the Beijing-Shenyang Express Passenger Rail. That's good news: the former intercity railway only went up to 250 km/h — but the Beijing-Shenyang one goes all the way up to 350 km/h. Do your maths: that's a 40-minute ride, according to the Beijing Daily.

Your Beijingologist has taken this a step further and have actually taken a look around at the Beijing-Shenyang Express. First of all, no groundbreaking work has been done yet; those bridges haven't been built as of yet. Trouble here is just where the train will start — Beijing Railway Station or Beijing East?

No joke: we could be seeing a second Beijing South. The old Beijing South Railway Station was tiny and was just — oh my God. It is like nothing of the present-day airplane of a station. The present-day Beijing South — if your Beijingologist must — kicks the old station's #¡¢€.

The present-day Beijing East is probably served by only one train a day. That's not much, so it's likely it'll go as well. Question is where we'll build the new Beijing East. Chaoyang? Tongzhou? And how will we ever get there? New Subway lines in the planning? Branch lines, anyone?

Once that's settled, we'll be going places, all right... we'd probably have to be quick. The new line is probably going to be slated for a 2012 opening, as that's when most of China will be linked with a super-cool HSR network.

By the way, driving from the Jing to Chengde right now takes about an hour and 40 - 50 minutes — and those curves on the Hebei bit of the Jingcheng Freeway are dangerous...