China's bullet train that could go from NY to Chicago in 4.5 hours shows how behind US is

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I had made plans to travel from Beijing to Xi'an, the capital of northwestern Shaanxi province and the imperial capital of China for centuries.

The distance between the two cities is around 746 miles, making it slightly more than two hours by plane, 11 hours by car, and anywhere between 11.5 hours and 17.5 hours on a regular train.

On China's top-of-the-line "bullet train," the journey takes 4.5 hours.

If I wanted to travel a comparable distance in the US by train — at 712 miles, New York to Chicago is the closest — it would take 22 hours, with a transfer in Washington, DC. And that's with traveling on Amtrak's Acela Express, currently the fastest train in the US with a speed up to 214 km/h (150 mph).

After riding China's bullet trains back and forth across the country, I couldn't help feel as if the US is being left behind, at least when it comes to transit.

During my one month in China, I started by taking planes across the country — three in total. But about halfway through the trip, I realized how dead simple and convenient the bullet trains were. I ended up taking four bullet trains in total.

The last one, from Zhengzhou to Shenzhen, covered a distance of 992 miles, or about the distance between New York and Jacksonville, Florida. The trip took a little over six hours.

The prices of the train tickets topped out around $100 from what I saw, which was the most mind-blowing thing for me. Train tickets on the only remotely high-speed train in the US, the Acela Express from New York to Washington, DC, frequently go for more than $200.

Experts have said that the reason for the lack of investment in the US in high-speed rail is its large land size and the relative distance between major cities. The lower population density in the US, when compared to China, the EU, or Japan, is also cited.

While it's hard to imagine a rail network as extensive as China's or a rail line connecting New York with Los Angeles, it seems crazy that, at this point, the best high-speed offering in China is eons more advanced and effective than its US equivalent.

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