High-speed rail reshapes tourism in Henan Province, China

ABSTRACT From February 2010 to June 2022, Henan Province gradually constructed the first radial high-speed rail (HSR) network in China, significantly advancing the development of tourism in the province. The HSR network has increased the number of tourists and also diversified their origins within China. High-speed rail has changed the past tourism mode of ‘travel slow, explore fast’ in Henan Province, making ‘travel fast, explore slow’ possible. However, in some cases, HSR has increased inequalities between settlements in the province, undermining smaller, local tourist sites.