Top: File photo taken in 1988 and provided by China Railway Nanning Group Co., Ltd. shows a conductor selling tickets at a railway station in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Bottom: Photo taken on June 14, 2019 by Lu Boan shows conductor Liao Yuan working at the ticket office of Nanning East Railway Station in Nanning. Railway ticket selling in China has undergone great changes. Currently, China's official railway ticket-booking website, 12306.cn, has become the largest real-time ticket transaction system in the world. According to statistics, 700 tickets were purchased via the system every second at peak time. In 1949 when the People's Republic of China was founded, the Chinese people faced a devastated country that needed to be rebuilt from scratch after decades of warfare and chaos. After decades of unremitting endeavors and dedication by the Chinese people, China has grown to be the world's second largest economy. In 1952, China's GDP was 30 billion U.S. dollars, while in 2018, its GDP reached 13.61 trillion U.S. dollars, an increase of 452.6 times. A group of combo photos give you a glimpse of what Chinese people did decades ago and what they do right now. Undoubtedly, people from all walks of life in China with hard work and wisdom have made contributions to the country's development. (Xinhua)
