A long train ride back to school

The first charted train carrying students back to their university in Shihezi in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region departed Jinan Railway Station in Shandong province on Monday.

A total of 960 students of Shihezi University were on board and scheduled to arrive on Wednesday afternoon. Three hundred and thirty boarded at Jinan, while the rest got on at Shijiazhuang North Railway Station in Hebei province.

Crew members sterilized the trains thoroughly. Attendants at the train will sterilize the public areas every six hours, according to China Railway Jinan Group Co, which arranged the train.

Emergency kits containing protective gear such as goggles, N95 masks, medical gloves and disinfectant were in place on the train.

Another special train is scheduled to leave Jinan for Shihezi on Tuesday, carrying a total of 968 students from provinces of Shandong and Shanxi back to their university.