Platforms 3 and 4 for northbound trains to Beijing and Northeastern China, as well as to Zhengzhou.
Platforms 5 and 6 for southbound trains to Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong.
My train has arrived…

Station square briefing… end of the line… and onward connection to 14:26 headed back to Zhengzhou… specifically its east station.
That Hair & Wigs Street… totally not expected!… 😂

Huge station obelisk sign thingy now with Xuchang Metro logo. Although it’s not a totally independent system a la say Suzhou Metro vs Shanghai Metro.

On approach to Xuchang East railway station… end of the line… after an hour, almost, on the train.
I have a tight rail connection to make so Dirty Burgers planned for my arrival in Zhengzhou instead. 🤣

Nearing Xuchang Sports Centre and getting closer to the underground part of the line… we are now roughly 50 km away from the Zhengzhou end of the line.

As you near Central Xuchang the new high-rises are everywhere.
You know what — China used to be this place where growth was unlimited — until Zero Covid with its anal swabs ruined it all. Now for some time, we’ve seen more dead people than newborns. These buildings may mean big trouble going ahead.

The line goes through parts of Zhengzhou all very much in the outer suburbs — counties or rural area cities of Zhongmu 中牟, Xinzheng 新郑, and Changge 长葛, before heading into the nearby city of Xuchang.
So a mix of farmland and built-up areas, really.

Like at some stations in Beijing, above-ground stations offer enclosed waiting rooms… just in case the elements make the wait insufferable…

Relatively good skies. Around 56F for the day (roughly 13C), but AQI hovering around 100… although last day we had some epic winds this part of Central China…

About 9 stops further south the train finally heads above-ground — and stays that way for the next 9 stations over roughly 26 km (about a third of the whole line)…