On Sunday morning, the high-speed train G3998 departed from Ruijin City in east China's Jiangxi Province, bound for Yan'an City in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, linking the two revolutionary sacred sites by high-speed rail for the first time. The journey, which used to take up to 22 hours with multiple transfers, now takes just about 11 hours on the 1,857-km route.

　　Liu never met her grandfather, but she spent years tracing his footsteps. In 2014, while visiting a memorial park in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, she found his name etched among more than 1,000 fallen soldiers from her hometown of Yudu County, Jiangxi. Tears streamed down her face.

　　"My grandfather set out from Ruijin, but he never made it to Yan'an. Today, I'm following the route he took northward, finishing the journey he couldn't complete and seeing the Yan'an he never got to see," Liu said.

　　Passengers prepare to board the train G3998 at Ruijin Station in Ruijin, east China's Jiangxi Province, Sept. 6, 2026. (Xinhua/Shao Rui)

　　FROM FOOT TO TRACK

　　Ruijin and Yan'an are both landmarks in China's revolutionary history. Located in eastern and northwestern China respectively, they are separated by a straight-line distance of over 1,300 kilometers, yet bound together by the Long March. More than 90 years ago, the Central Red Army set out from Ruijin and marched 12,500 kilometers through countless trials and perils to reach northern Shaanxi.