Railways in Mainland China

Transrapid (a German maglev company, which has a test track in Emsland, Germany), constructed the first operational maglev railway in the world, from Shanghai to its airport. It was inaugurated in 2002. Commercial exploitation is planned for 2003.

There is an ambitious plan for more high speed rail by 2005.

Qinghai-Tibet railroad
A 670 mile (1118 km) long Qinghai-Tibet railroad to Lhasa is currently under construction. It includes the now finished construction of the 3,345-meter long Yangbajain No. 1 tunnel which is 4,264 meters above sea level and located 80 kilometers away from the regional capital Lhasa.

More than 960 kilometers, or over four-fifths of the railway, will be built at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters, and over half of it will be laid on frozen earth.

The railway's highest point, the Tanggula Mountain Pass, is 5,072 meters above sea level.

Thirty railway stations are to be built, among them Tangula Mountain station, which at 4,500 m will be one of the highest-altitude railway stations in the world (after Cóndor station, at 4,786 m, on the Rio Mulatos-Potosí line, Bolivia, and La Galera at 4,781 m in Peru).

When the railway is complete (expected in 2006), it will be possible to travel from Lhasa to Beijing in 48 hours.

Metro
Cities with metro systems:

Beijing designed and built in the 1960s
Guangzhou
Hong Kong ("MTR" or Mass Transit Railway)
Shanghai designed and built in the 1990s
Tianjin currently suspended for construction of additional lines
Ditto under construction:

Chongqing City - most sections will be above ground.
Nanjing ( http://www.nj-dt.com/ )
Shenzhen