Don't be surprised if next time you board a high-speed train China you're not getting on a "Harmony" but a Taobao, Xiaomi or Haier.
The Nanchang Railway Bureau just crowned the locomotive servicing the Fuzhou-Longyan route the "China Unicom." This spring they already changed four trains' names from "Harmony" to the equally poetic "LDY Supply," after a Jiangxi chain of specialty stores. Reportedly, renaming a train will set you back an annual fee of RMB10 million.
Last year it was announced the imperium in imperio-esque Ministry of Railways, which operated its own police force and even court system, was being abolished for (surprise, surprise) corruption on a no less than imperial scale. Besides embezzling funds to the tune of US$50 million, Minister Liu Zhijun was said to keep 18 mistresses and have sexual relationships with a variable red carpet of Chinese actresses.
The erstwhile Ministry's responsibilities were split up between several government ministries, with the actual construction and management of rail lines falling under the remit of a new state-owned corporation, the China Railway Corporation.
It appears the young CRC is not at all shy about showing off its new, more commercial face.
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