Laixi, a county-level city in Qingdao, Shandong province, started bullet train services to urban Qingdao on Jan 19. The ride is about 30 minutes long.

Laixi Station after renovation [Photo/qingdaonews.com]

C6598, the first train on the line, departed from Laixi Station at 11:18 am and stopped at Qingdao North Railway Station at 11:49 am before arriving at Qingdao Railway Station at 12:14 am.

Starting from Jan 20, there will be six direct trains from Laixi to Qingdao. D8156 and C6528 (inter-city train) take only 28 minutes to reach Qingdao North Railway Station, where passengers can transfer to metro lines 3, 1 and 8.

The earliest departure times of the trains from Qingdao North Railway Station to Laixi and from Laixi to Qingdao will be 6:02 am and 7:01 am respectively.

As trains on the Qingdao-Rongcheng Intercity Railway will resume stopovers at the Laixi Station, it will take only an hour and 14 minutes to travel from Laixi to Weihai, and 50 minutes from Laixi to Yantai.